House Republicans Refuse to Protect In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

Legislation Benefits Scammers, Fraudsters, and Cheaters

***NEW FACT SHEET*** House Republican Direct File Rider Takes Money Out of Americans’ Pockets

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Democrats today unanimously voted against House Republicans’ 2025 Financial Services and General Government funding bill. This bill benefits billionaires, big corporations, and the well-connected at the expense of hardworking Americans. It makes communities less safe and enables corporate price gouging, fraud, and individuals to sell dangerous products.

During today’s markup, Ranking Member DeLauro offered an amendment requiring the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan to cover in vitro fertilization or IVF. Instead of supporting IVF, House Republicans said “no,” turning their back on women and prospective parents and harming their ability to start a family.

House Republicans’ Financial Services bill’s overall funding level represents a 10 percent cut below 2024. This legislation:

• Decimates Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement efforts to ensure wealthy individuals and the biggest corporations pay their taxes. House Democrats stand up to corporate greed. House Republicans side with billionaires and big corporations.
• Leaves consumers vulnerable to scams and predatory junk fees by cutting funding for both the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, allowing greedy corporations to continue price gouging. These changes increase the cost of living for hardworking Americans.
• Enables individuals to sell dangerous products and puts children at risk by cutting resources for the Consumer Product Safety Commission and including harmful extreme policies that side with big corporations over Americans.
• Drastically underfunds the Securities and Exchange Commission tasked with making sure markets are fair and protecting investors from bad actors.
• Makes our elections less secure with no funding for Election Security Grants.
• Takes money out of Americans’ pockets by blocking the nationwide expansion of the IRS Direct File pilot program. This expansion would save the average user $160 in filing fees and would deliver $19 billion to American families.
• Includes approximately 80 new, problematic, or pointless policy riders on topics such as abortion and the SEC’s climate disclosure rule. Additionally, instead of addressing the issues that matter most to the American people, House Republicans are micromanaging the District of Columbia’s health and traffic laws.

“Republicans' Fiscal Year 2025 FSGG bill undermines the federal government's ability to address the national debt, enforce our financial laws, and go after the scammers, fraudsters, and tax cheats who break them,” Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Steny Hoyer (D-MD-05) said. “Indeed, the bill's authors do not want our government to work for the American people. This legislation cuts funding to the Federal Trade Commission and other regulatory agencies responsible for lowering Americans costs and for protecting them from financial exploitation. It also reduces funding for the Internal Revenue Service and its efforts to collect legally owed tax revenue from millionaires and corporations. If these cuts weren't enough, Republicans have also attached far-right partisan riders that do everything from restricting reproductive health care and IVF access to eliminating key concealed carry requirements for guns in Washington D.C.. Democrats are always ready and willing to negotiate with Republicans to put People Over Politics. Their draconian bill, however, is not a reasonable foundation for compromise. It's a dead end.”

Congressman Hoyer’s full remarks are here.

“House Republicans’ financial services bill will raise the cost of living, let corporate price gouging run rampant, expose children to dangerous products, leave Americans vulnerable to scams and predatory junk fees, further rig the economy in favor of the rich and powerful, and make our elections less secure and less transparent,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “The vast majority of Americans are honest, hard-working people who pay their taxes. Who play by the rules. While Democrats are trying help these families get by, cut the cost of filing taxes, and increase the refunds that Americans receive, most recently by permanently expanding the IRS Direct File pilot program nationwide, House Republicans are trying to block successful programs like this to benefit billionaires, big corporations, and the well-connected. House Republicans are also using this bill to continue their attacks on women’s health. They turned their back on women by further limiting access to abortion and saying ‘no’ to prospective parents by failing to protect in vitro fertilization or IVF for public service employees. Like the majority’s Financial Services bill from last year, this legislation fails to protect women and benefits scammers, fraudsters, and cheaters at the expense of hardworking Americans.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks are here.

A summary of the bill can be found here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. A fact sheet on how House Republicans are taking money out of American’s pockets is here.

The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here.

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