PROSPER WEEKLY

Over the past four months, CPA senior economist Mihir Torsekar closely examined the Trump administration’s 2026 Jones Act waiver and found little evidence that it has achieved the goals used to justify it. The administration argued that suspending the law would support national defense and help reduce fuel prices during the Strait of Hormuz crisis. Yet it has not publicly demonstrated that the waiver satisfied the Jones Act’s legal requirement of addressing an immediate military need or shown that qualified American vessels were unavailable to perform the work.