We enter 2026 with nearly 60 members of the current Congress having already indicated they will not return to their seats after this year’s midterm elections, driven by redistricting, retirements and lawmakers running for different offices. Control of the two chambers of Congress will remain highly contested throughout the 2026 election cycle, shaping the legislative environment for the year ahead.
Browse NRF's top policy priorities for the coming year.
The House Republicans’ already narrow majority has been reduced to effectively two votes. The Senate remains in Republican control with a 53-47 majority. These razor-thin margins and a rapidly evolving electoral landscape will shape how the retail industry advances our legislative priorities this year. Regardless of the political makeup, however, our mission remains unchanged: advancing a stronger and healthier U.S. economy.
Organized retail crime remains a persistent threat to retailers, their employees and the communities they serve. Despite significant investments in security, training, store design and partnerships with law enforcement, retailers continue to face elevated levels of theft and violence driven by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks operating across physical, digital and international channels.
Beyond financial losses, ORC puts retail workers and shoppers at risk and forces retailers to make difficult operational decisions, including increased security measures and restricted product access. Retailers and local law enforcement across the United States are committed to maintaining safe environments, but federal support is needed to counter organized theft groups that operate beyond state and national borders.
Organized retail crime is on the rise. Join us and tell Congress to act now.
Addressing the scale and complexity of organized retail crime requires coordinated federal action. The House Judiciary Committee’s vote on Jan. 13 to report the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 2853/S. 1404) favorably out of committee marked a significant step toward advancing comprehensive federal solutions, moving the legislation one step closer to consideration on the House floor and passage into law.
NRF will continue pressing for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act’s swift passage and implementation to ensure retailers and law enforcement have the tools and support necessary to protect our businesses, our workers, our customers, our communities and our national economy.
The Trump administration and Congress have made concerted efforts to modernize U.S. payments by emphasizing digital payments and promoting innovation, and, following a recent presidential endorsement, the Credit Card Competition Act has been reintroduced in both chambers of Congress.
Fed up with unfair swipe fees? Learn more about the Credit Card Competition Act.
Interchange, or “swipe,” fees totaled a record $187.2 billion in 2024, up from $172 billion in 2023. American retailers and merchants pay the highest swipe fee rates in the world, making these fees many retailers’ second-highest cost after labor. NRF continues to advocate for the Credit Card Competition Act as a bipartisan, market-based approach to increasing competition in the credit card marketplace. Retailers and the broader merchant community have sought fairer fees for decades, and recent polling shows growing consumer support for reform.
The legislation would provide meaningful relief to merchants and their customers while advancing the administration’s goal of a more competitive and innovative U.S. payments ecosystem. At a time when affordability is top of mind for American consumers, the Credit Card Competition Act presents an opportunity to address a credit card market that drives rising costs for businesses and households alike.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over $200 billion has been collected in tariff revenue since Jan. 20, 2025; however, that revenue has been paid by American businesses and importers, not foreign trading partners.
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of record-high tariffs. Learn more.
A Supreme Court decision is pending on the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose global tariffs, which could clarify the scope of presidential trade authority. While the court has not yet issued a decision, the case underscores the need for clear and predictable trade policy frameworks and a robust congressional role in trade decisions to support supply chain stability, business planning and consumer affordability.
Retailers share President Trump’s goals of strengthening the U.S. economy, keeping inflation in check and ensuring that American families benefit from lower prices. But the use of broad-based tariffs leads to a concerning outcome — higher prices for everyday consumer products —and has a chilling effect on innovation and growth. NRF will continue leading the retail industry in these critical public policy conversations as the Supreme Court considers the case.
For decades, NRF has maintained that functional, legally sound immigration pathways are essential to sustaining the retail workforce and the broader U.S. economy. As the nation’s largest private-sector employer, the retail industry believes immigrants at all skill levels should have a clear, lawful pathway to work authorization in the United States.
NRF supports practical, comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the needs of both employers and those of the broader economy. Learn more.
NRF continues to urge Congress to modernize immigration laws through bipartisan solutions that provide stability for legally authorized foreign-born workers and expand and improve work visa programs. The retail industry values the contributions of foreign-born employees, including TPS and parole recipients, and supports permanent residency and citizenship pathways for Dreamers as well as work authorization for asylum seekers awaiting adjudication. Even as retailers invest in developing the domestic workforce, a flexible and effective H-1B program remains vital to attracting and retaining top global talent.
The number of suspended penny distribution sites has ballooned since the Federal Reserve suspended the first of its 165-coin distribution terminals for penny services in August 2025, creating widespread penny shortages for retailers that rely on cash transactions. In response, retailers have taken a range of steps to continue serving cash-paying customers — often without clear guidance on what is permissible under federal, state and local law.
The U.S. treasury placed its final order of penny blanks in May 2025, following President Donald Trump’s announcement to cease production of the penny as a cost-saving measure. Learn more.
In the absence of preemptive federal guidance, retailers face growing legal and compliance risks simply for implementing practical solutions to manage low penny inventories. NRF remains in close contact with the administration and Congress to urge swift, clear and consistent federal action that provides retailers with the guidance and flexibility they need to adapt. To that end, NRF is working with bill sponsors of the Common Cents Act (H.R. 3074/S. 1525) to ensure necessary provisions such as federal preemption of state cash laws, rounding guidance and SNAP/EBT considerations are included in the legislation.
As artificial intelligence becomes embedded across retail operations and transforms the shopping experience, retailers can expect another busy year of federal and state activity focused on how AI is developed, deployed and governed. The core policy question ahead is whether the U.S. moves toward a more uniform federal framework or continues down a fragmented, state-by-state path.
At the federal level, the administration signaled a more assertive posture through the December 2025 executive order, “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence.” The executive order directs the Department of Justice to challenge state laws that conflict with national AI policy priorities or impose undue burdens on interstate commerce. This is paired with forthcoming legislative recommendations to Congress aimed at establishing a federal AI framework that could preempt certain state requirements.
At the same time, state-level activity will remain robust. The implementation and enforcement of Colorado’s comprehensive AI law will be up for debate once again this year after state legislators failed to reach consensus last year. Given that this is the first comprehensive AI bill to be enacted in the U.S., all eyes will be on Colorado to see how the legislature navigates this complex enforcement landscape.
As enforcement of AI-related laws increases and debates over preemption intensify, retailers should engage with policymakers to support risk-based approaches that protect consumers without slowing innovation.
NRF will continue working with the administration and Congress to advance policies and regulatory reforms that will enhance American competitiveness, create jobs and strengthen consumers.
