Nick Shirley Congressional Gold Medal Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Nick Shirley Congressional Gold Medal Act is a congressional-honors bill. Congress makes findings about Nick Shirley's December 26, 2025 investigative post on X, claims he uncovered more than $110 million in alleged fraud in Minnesota, and states that federal funding to fraudulent businesses was halted. A sense of Congress says Shirley showed bravery, integrity, and dedication to constitutional principles while uncovering fraud, waste, and abuse under Governor Tim Walz. The bill directs the Speaker of the House and Senate President pro tempore to arrange presentation of a gold medal to Shirley, and directs the Treasury Secretary to strike a medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions. Treasury may strike and sell bronze duplicates at a price covering labor, material, dies, machinery, and overhead. The medals are treated as national medals and numismatic items. Costs are charged to the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, and duplicate bronze sale proceeds are deposited back into that fund.
Who Benefits and How
Nick Shirley benefits from congressional recognition and the prestige of a Congressional Gold Medal. Taxpayer watchdog audiences benefit because the bill highlights alleged fraud, waste, and abuse as a public accountability issue. United States Mint collectors benefit from the ability to buy bronze duplicate medals. The Mint benefits if duplicate sales reimburse labor, materials, machinery, and overhead costs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Treasury and United States Mint staff must design, strike, price, and sell medals, then administer deposits into the Public Enterprise Fund. Congressional leadership offices must arrange the presentation. The United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund bears upfront costs until duplicate sale proceeds are collected. Federal taxpayers may bear residual costs if sales do not cover all medal expenses.
Key Provisions
- Recognizes Nick Shirley with a Congressional Gold Medal for investigative journalism.
- Directs congressional leadership to arrange the medal presentation.
- Requires the Treasury Secretary to strike a gold medal with suitable design features.
- Authorizes Treasury to strike and sell duplicate bronze medals at cost-covering prices.
- Provides national medal and numismatic-item status and directs sale proceeds back to the Mint fund.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Awards a Congressional Gold Medal to Nick Shirley for investigative journalism described as uncovering fraud, waste, and abuse against taxpayers, authorizes duplicate bronze medals for sale, treats the medals as national and numismatic medals, and pays costs from the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund with sale proceeds returned to that fund.
Key Policy Areas
Government
Primary Purpose
Awards a Congressional Gold Medal to Nick Shirley for investigative journalism described as uncovering fraud, waste, and abuse against taxpayers, authorizes duplicate bronze medals for sale, treats the medals as national and numismatic medals, and pays costs from the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund with sale proceeds returned to that fund.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Nick Shirley
- Taxpayer watchdog audiences
- United States Mint collectors
- United States Mint sales program
- Congressional recognition programs
Identified Costs
- Treasury medal staff
- United States Mint staff
- Congressional leadership offices
- United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Crane introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional leadership offices, Treasury medal staff, United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology