President Suspends De Minimis Exemption
for Commercial Shipments 

The One Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed into law on July 4, included language to end de minimis treatment for all low-value commercial shipments effective July 1, 2027. Given our work with Congress over the past couple of years trying to pass legislation to close the de minimis loophole, the inclusion of this provision is a significant victory to our efforts to stop the flow of illicit narcotics coming across our borders. However, we remained concerned that the provision would not take effect for another two years. NAPO joined our partners in the Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole in a July 22 letter to the President urging him to use his executive authority to close this loophole for commercial shipments immediately.

On July 30, President Trump heeded our plea and signed an Executive Order suspending duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value commercial shipments effective August 29, removing significant fentanyl trafficking routes into this country and saving countless lives.

Law enforcement is battling the trafficking of illegal narcotics on multiple fronts, from our southern border to Asian supply chains selling via e-commerce and shipping drugs like fentanyl in small packages through the international mail system. Fentanyl traffickers have sought to mimic normal e-commerce shipments to avoid detection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and they often declare their international shipments as relatively low-value consumer goods and send them to mail centers or other addresses not associated with the criminal organization, making them near impossible to track.

The de minimis loophole severely exacerbated the opioid crisis by allowing fentanyl, other illegal opioids, and related paraphernalia to enter our market duty free and largely uninspected. NAPO thanks the President for taking this important action, which will greatly assist our nation’s law enforcement in the fight against fentanyl and help protect the health and safety of the American people.

Passage of NAPO-Backed National Police Week
Bills Stymied in the Senate

On July 29, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) attempted to pass a package comprised of seven bipartisan bills that were unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 15, in honor of National Police Week: the Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act

(S. 1595), Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act (S. 1563), the Strong Communities Act (S. 1316), the Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act (S. 180), the Reauthorizing STOIC Act (S. 419), the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act (S. 911), and the PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act (S. 539).

Senator Cortez Masto called for the bills to be unanimously agreed to, which means that no Senator can object to the passage of the bills. Senators Cortez Masto and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) each stood on the Senate floor and spoke passionately on the need to deliver America’s law enforcement the funding and resources provided by these bills. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), however, decided to forcefully object to the passage of the bills despite having voted to approve them in Committee.

Senator Booker’s objection was due to the Trump Administration’s policy to prohibit “sanctuary” jurisdictions from receiving federal funding and, according to the Senator, if those jurisdictions cannot receive the funding, then no jurisdiction should receive the funding. Despite strong arguments in opposition to his reasoning from Senators Cortez Masto and Klobuchar, Senator Booker would not relent and let the package of bills pass.

In the end, the Senate agreed to pass two bills from the package by unanimous consent: the Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act, sponsored by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act, sponsored by Senator Cortez Masto. It is unclear why Senator Booker allowed the Improving Police CARE Act to pass given that it affects the Bryne JAG Program while continuing to oppose the other grant-related bills, but it is due to the pressure that NAPO put on Senate Democratic leadership that we were able to get these two bills passed.

The Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act establishes baseline standards for trauma kits purchased using grant funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) and requires the development of best practices for training law enforcement officers to use trauma kits, and for deployment and maintenance of the kits in vehicles and government facilities.

The Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act covers retired law enforcement officers who are killed or permanently and catastrophically disabled due to their previous work in the line of duty under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program.

We continue to work with Senate Democratic leadership and the remaining bills’ sponsors to find a path forward. The Senate cannot support law enforcement only during National Police Week – they must follow through on that support all year round and remember the sacrifices officers make day in and day out in the protection of our communities.

FY 2026 Federal Appropriations Update

Before adjourning for a four-week August recess, the Senate is hoping to strike a deal on a minibus of appropriations measures funding the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), FBI and military construction projects, which would allow them to quickly take the package up when the Chamber returns on September 2. Senate leadership needs all 100 Senators to be in agreement to move the package of bills forward and there are hangups on each side of the aisle. With just over 3 legislative weeks until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, there is precious little time left to move spending bills through regular order.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) spending measure on July 17. The bill allocates $569.1 million for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) Program, with $249.6 million in carveouts for programs including $13 million for the VALOR Program, $8 million for Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training, and $19 million for the Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program. It funds the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Program at $30 million, the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) at $40 million, $27 million for the BJA Body Worn Camera Grant Program, and provides $82 million in total for the STOP School Violence Grant program.

For the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, the Senate CJS bill appropriates $500.2 million, of which $206 million is allocated for the COPS Hiring Program with a carve out of $10 million for the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) and the Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act programs. It also provides $12 million for the POLICE Act program for officer active-shooter training, $16 million for the COPS anti-meth task force program and $35 million for the anti-heroin task force program. The measure also provides $20 million for Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training and funds the COPS Collaborative Reform Initiative at $7.5 million.

These funding levels are on par with how these programs have been funded over the past several fiscal years, with no significant cuts to NAPO’s priority grant programs. This is a big win for us as the Administration works to substantially reduce federal spending.

The Senate CJS spending measure makes no mention of merging the COPS Office into the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which has been proposed by the Administration. Maintaining an independent COPS Office is a top priority for NAPO and while we appreciate that Senate appropriators make no mention of the proposed merger, we will work to include language prohibiting the integration of the COPS Office into OJP. 

With the House and Senate so far behind in the appropriations process due to consideration of the One Big Beautiful Bill taking up so much time and effort, it is very likely that Congress will have to pass a short-term continuing resolution in September to keep the government funded past the end of the fiscal year. NAPO continues to monitor CJS appropriations as it makes its way through the Congressional process.

NAPO’s Legislative Positions & Sponsor/Cosponsor Updates

You can now see if your U.S. Representatives and Senators support NAPO’s priority legislation on our new interactive Sponsor/Cosponsor map on our website. The interactive map accompanies the latest “Legislative Positions” document, which is also available on the NAPO website under “Washington Report”.  NAPO’s Legislative Positions is a document that highlights all the legislation that we have taken an official position on or are monitoring during the 119th Congress. The map and Legislative Positions document are continually updated to reflect the work we are doing on Capitol Hill.

The Washington Report is taking a hiatus for the August Recess along with Congress. We will be back in your inboxes on September 5, unless something comes up before then that requires your attention.  In the meantime, please monitor NAPO’s website, www.napo.org, and Facebook page: National Association of Police Organizations, and follow us on X at NAPOpolice for breaking news and updates.