Sponsors (3)
The bill centralizes and clarifies U.S. federal insurance authority to improve international negotiation and streamline contacts for regulators and insurers, but does so by eliminating an independent office—raising risks of weakened specialized oversight, state preemption, transitional uncertainty, and politicization that may disadvantage consumers, smaller insurers, and state regulators.
State regulators, U.S. insurers, and federal stakeholders get a single, clarified federal insurance authority (Treasury Secretary + a U.S. Insurance Representative), reducing duplication and creating a clearer point of contact for international negotiations and domestic coordination.
U.S. insurers (and their customers) may gain improved international market access and competitiveness through negotiated 'covered agreements' that recognize substantially equivalent consumer protections.
States, insurers, and the public benefit from procedural safeguards—notice, consultation, comment, a 30‑day delay before preemption takes effect, annual reporting, and a mandated study—that increase transparency and allow stakeholders time to respond to federal actions.
Consumers, smaller insurers, and the public risk weaker, less independent insurance oversight because responsibilities move from the standalone Federal Insurance Office to the Treasury Secretary, increasing the potential for politicized or less-specialized decision‑making.
Federal employees of the Federal Insurance Office will lose positions or roles, causing loss of institutional expertise on insurance policy and regulatory continuity.
State regulators and local insurers may lose enforcement power where the U.S. Insurance Representative finds state rules inconsistent with covered agreements, increasing preemption risk and generating greater litigation (including de novo judicial review) and legal costs.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 16, 2026 by Troy Downing · Last progress January 16, 2026
Eliminates the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) in the Treasury Department and creates a new United States Insurance Representative (USIR) within Treasury to handle federal prudential international insurance policy. Establishes duties and limits for the USIR, sets a two‑part test and a procedural process for Treasury preemption of State insurance measures tied to international “covered agreements,” requires reports and a study, and adds a State insurance commissioner (selected through a presidential appointment process with NAIC consultation) as a statutory member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).