Beltway Buzz, March 7, 2025 - The National Law Review

Sat, Mar 8, 2025 00:37 ET

in Press Release

The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business.

President Trump Addresses Congress. On March 4, 2025, President Donald Trump delivered an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Although the State of the Union–like address was short on specifics, President Trump mentioned a few issues that caught our attention at the Buzz.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and Accessibility. President Trump did not reveal any new policy initiatives in this area, but his discussion of the topic further demonstrates that the administration views this as a winning political issue. Consequently, employers—including federal contractors—should expect the administration to continue moving forward with anti-DEI policy initiatives already set in place, including an appeal of a federal court’s decision to block three components of two DEI-related executive orders.
Gold Cards. President Trump touted this nascent policy idea that would purportedly allow foreign nationals to buy permanent residency in the United States (a “gold card”) for $5 million. Would this replace the EB-5 investor program or exist alongside it? Nobody knows because the proposed policy hasn’t been presented in written detail. This would likely take an act of Congress, too.
No Tax on Tips or Overtime. This is an issue that both parties brought up on the campaign trail in 2024 and was...