February 2026 Public Policy Update

Congress came back from its weeklong President's Day recess just in time for President Trump's State of the Union address, while also facing a major hurdle in funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). You likely remember that Congress averted a full government shutdown in January by agreeing to all appropriations bills except for DHS. Also, last year's landmark tax package included additional funding for DHS, so we may not see the immediate sharp consequences of a shutdown as we did toward the end of last year.

As Democratic lawmakers and the White House continue negotiating reopening DHS, which is largely focused on how federal immigration agents operate, Congress also continues to make up for the time it lost during the record-long 43-day government shutdown. On February 9, the House voted 390-9 to pass the Housing for the 21st Century Act, which seeks to increase the nation's housing supply and affordability by reducing regulatory barriers, modernizing federal housing programs, and supporting local development. A major Senate Agriculture Committee bill - advanced along party lines in late January - has positioned the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to take on a significant amount of oversight for crypto markets. The Senate Banking Committee has yet to reschedule its markup of crypto market structure legislation, which was postponed in January after objections from the crypto industry.

Gold Medals and a Retirement Savings Proposal at the State of the Union Address

In his 2026 State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, February 24, President Trump paired a salute to the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team with a "wealth for all" financial agenda. The President highlighted the launch of "Trump Accounts," which provide $1,000 in seed money for young children in a pilot program and allow contributions from employers and charitable organizations. He also called to expand retirement savings through a new retirement initiative modeled after the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for federal workers. Workers would get a matching contribution from the government of up to $1,000 annually for retirement, though it is unclear how that differs from the Savers Match program from the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022 passed during the Biden administration that will take effect in 2027. President Trump also touted various affordability measures, including provisions from the 2025 tax bill, such as the tax deduction for car loan interest, and pressed Congress to approve his proposal to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

Empowering You to Raise Your Voice

In our last update, we announced CFP Board will be rolling out Voter Voice, our new grassroots advocacy platform. Voter Voice makes it easy to contact your elected officials on key issues in just a few clicks. This means that when critical legislation comes up for a vote or needs additional support, we can now mobilize CFP® professionals quickly to ensure your voice is heard on the issues that matter most.

And we're excited to say that the time to act is now! While you will also receive an email soon, we are asking our Public Policy Update readers to take action now to support the Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams and Disasters Act. After clicking this link, you will be prompted to enter your name and home address so the system can identify your members of Congress. It will then generate a prewritten message asking them to support the bill or thanking them if they have already done so. Please let us know about your experience using the tool by submitting your feedback here.

SCOTUS Weighs in on Tariffs

You may have seen the breaking news on February 20 that the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled against President Trump's tariff policies, which set a baseline 10% reciprocal tariff rate for several countries. Of importance, SCOTUS did not explicitly note in the majority opinion whether the government has to issue refunds for tariffs already collected, though Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted in his dissent that the U.S. "may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid the IEEPA [International Emergency Economic Powers Act] tariffs."

How did the markets react to this news? On February 23 - the next trading day - domestic equity indexes initially rose on the ruling. According to Barron's, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rallied 0.3%, Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1%. However, as the day continued, the modest equity gains faded as investors anticipated that the Trump administration would pivot to other authorities to impose tariffs. Bond yields also climbed, with the 10-year Treasury note yield rising to 4.09% and the 2-year yield rising to 3.49%, as tariff revenues were projected to reduce the federal deficit.

Artificial Intelligence for Financial Services

On February 19, the Department of the Treasury issued two new tools to support responsible artificial intelligence adoption by the financial services ecosystem. First, Treasury released a shared Artificial Intelligence Lexicon that establishes common definitions for key AI concepts, capabilities and risk categories, enabling clearer communication across regulatory, technical, legal and business functions and supporting more consistent supervision and implementation. Second, Treasury published the Financial Services AI Risk Management Framework, which provides practical tools and reference materials to help institutions evaluate AI use cases, manage risks across the AI lifecycle, and embed accountability, transparency and resilience into AI deployment decisions. The resources were developed with industry and regulatory partners through the Artificial Intelligence Executive Oversight Group. Treasury stated that the publications advance the President's AI Action Plan.