Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Act of 2025
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Education and Workforce, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictionA court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) of the committee concerned.
Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Act of 2025
This bill establishes a program to compensate individuals injured by exposure to thalidomide. (Thalidomide is a medication previously used to treat nausea in pregnant women until the 1960s when it was discovered thalidomide causes severe, life-threatening birth defects. Thalidomide is still used to treat multiple myeloma and leprosy, with federal restrictions to prevent use during pregnancy.)
Specifically, individuals seeking compensation may submit a petition to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by May 31, 2034, with documentation from a health professional of an injury caused by exposure to thalidomide. HHS must provide $150,000 to individuals showing such injury, as determined by an expert panel. Eligible individuals must have been a U.S. citizen or permanent resident at the time of exposure and at the time the petition was submitted.
HHS may pay individuals compensated under the program additional compensation for ongoing medical or other needs as funds allow after HHS' annual review of the program, as required by the bill.
Compensation provided under the bill may not be considered when calculating income or assets under any federal program designed to provide assistance exclusively to low-income individuals (i.e., means-tested programs), including certain programs and funds specified in the bill. Compensation under the program is also excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on October 28, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 28, 2025: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Education and Workforce, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ) introduced it on October 28, 2025. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 28, 2025, 317 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 317 days ago, on October 28, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers