IB
Union Calendar No. 61
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 277
[Report No. 118–84, Part I]
To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major
rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a
joint resolution of approval is enacted into law.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY11, 2023
Mrs. C
AMMACK(for herself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. COMER, Mr. EMMER, Mr.
F
ULCHER, Mr. DUNNof Florida, Mr. FINSTAD, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr.
C
ARL, Mrs. MILLERof Illinois, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. JOYCEof Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. R
ESCHENTHALER, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr.
J
ACKSONof Texas, Mr. MOONEY, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr.
G
IMENEZ, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. WILLIAMSof Texas, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. AUS-
TINSCOTTof Georgia, Mr. LATURNER, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. GRAVESof Lou-
isiana, Mrs. H
INSON, Mrs. RODGERSof Washington, Mr. CRENSHAW,
Mrs. M
ILLER-MEEKS, Mr. SMITHof Nebraska, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr.
B
ACON, Mr. PERRY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr.
J
OHNSONof Louisiana, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. BANKS, Mr.
T
IFFANY, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. ROY, Mr. OWENS, Mr.
I
SSA, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. CARTERof Georgia, Mr. BURGESS, Mr.
K
ELLYof Mississippi, Mr. PALMER, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mr.
W
ALBERG, Mr. BARR, Mr. MOOREof Utah, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. C.
S
COTTFRANKLINof Florida, Ms. MACE, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr.
B
ALDERSON, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. BIGGS, Ms. GREENEof Georgia, Mr. BILI-
RAKIS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. BOST, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mrs. SPARTZ, Mr.
B
ABIN, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. STEWART, Mr. SMUCKER, Mrs.
B
OEBERT, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. BUCK, Mrs. BICE, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr.
F
ALLON, Mr. STEIL, Mr. MANN, Mr. ROGERSof Alabama, Mr. MURPHY,
Mr. D
ONALDS, Mr. POSEY, Mr. JOHNSONof South Dakota, Mr. WILSON
of South Carolina, Mr. N
EHLS, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. BISHOP
of North Carolina, Mr. W
ENSTRUP, Mr. HERN, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. CLINE,
Mr. M
OOREof Alabama, Mr. VANDREW, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. GREEN
of Tennessee, Mr. F
ITZGERALD, Mr. THOMPSONof Pennsylvania, Mr.
M
AST, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. DAVIDSON, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. GOODENof
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Texas, Ms. VANDUYNE, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. MIKEGARCIAof California,
Mr. A
LLEN, Ms. DELACRUZ, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. MCCAUL,
Mr. D
ESJARLAIS, Mr. NUNNof Iowa, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. TIMMONS, Mr.
C
OLLINS, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. SMITHof Missouri, Mrs. LUNA, Mr. TONY
G
ONZALESof Texas, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. FERGUSON, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-
C
OLO´N, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Mr. JAMES, Mr. ESTES, Mr.
C
RAWFORD, Mr. MCHENRY, Ms. LEEof Florida, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. SES-
SIONS, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Mr. MEUSER, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. DIAZ-
B
ALART, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. MORAN, Mr. PENCE, Mr.
B
RECHEEN, Mr. HILL, Mr. EZELL, Mrs. HOUCHIN, Mr. MCCORMICK,
Mr. L
UTTRELL, Mr. ALFORD, Mr. JOHNSONof Ohio, Mr. ROUZER, Mr.
B
URLISON, Mr. ELLZEY, Mr. WEBSTERof Florida, Ms. HAGEMAN, Mr.
B
EANof Florida, Mr. HIGGINSof Louisiana, Mrs. MILLERof West Vir-
ginia, Mr. G
ALLAGHER, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. GOODof Virginia, Mr. MIL-
LERof Ohio, Mr. MILLS, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr.
M
OOLENAAR, Mr. LAHOOD, Ms. FOXX, Mr. ROGERSof Kentucky, Mr.
F
LOOD, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. VANORDEN, and Mr. GUEST) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary,
and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and the Budget, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
J
UNE1, 2023
Additional sponsors: Mr. Y
AKYM, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. SELF, Mr.
S
CALISE, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. OGLES, Mr. SANTOS, and Mr. ROSE
J
UNE1, 2023
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
JUNE1, 2023
Committees on Rules and the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee
of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 11, 2023]
A BILL
To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide
that major rules of the executive branch shall have no
force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is
enacted into law.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulations from the 4
Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘REINS 5
Act of 2023’’. 6
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 7
The purpose of this Act is to increase accountability 8
for and transparency in the Federal regulatory process. Sec-9
tion 1 of article I of the United States Constitution grants 10
all legislative powers to Congress. Over time, Congress has 11
excessively delegated its constitutional charge while failing 12
to conduct appropriate oversight and retain accountability 13
for the content of the laws it passes. By requiring a vote 14
in Congress, the REINS Act will result in more carefully 15
drafted and detailed legislation, an improved regulatory 16
process, and a legislative branch that is truly accountable 17
to the American people for the laws imposed upon them. 18
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULEMAKING. 19
Chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 20
to read as follows: 21
‘‘CHAPTER 8—CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW 22
OF AGENCY RULEMAKING 23
‘‘Sec.
‘‘801. Congressional review.
‘‘802. Congressional approval procedure for major rules.
‘‘803. Congressional disapproval procedure for nonmajor rules.
‘‘804. Definitions.
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‘‘805. Judicial review.
‘‘806. Exemption for monetary policy.
‘‘807. Effective date of certain rules.
‘‘§ 801. Congressional review 1
‘‘(a)(1)(A) Before a rule may take effect, the Federal 2
agency promulgating such rule shall publish in the Federal 3
Register a list of information on which the rule is based, 4
including data, scientific and economic studies, and cost- 5
benefit analyses, and identify how the public can access 6
such information online, and shall submit to each House 7
of the Congress and to the Comptroller General a report 8
containing— 9
‘‘(i) a copy of the rule; 10
‘‘(ii) a concise general statement relating to the 11
rule; 12
‘‘(iii) a classification of the rule as a major or 13
nonmajor rule, including an explanation of the classi-14
fication specifically addressing each criteria for a 15
major rule contained within subparagraphs (A) 16
through (C) of section 804(2); 17
‘‘(iv) a list of any other related regulatory ac-18
tions intended to implement the same statutory provi-19
sion or regulatory objective as well as the individual 20
and aggregate economic effects of those actions; and 21
‘‘(v) the proposed effective date of the rule. 22
‘‘(B) On the date of the submission of the report under 23
subparagraph (A), the Federal agency promulgating the 24
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rule shall submit to the Comptroller General and make 1
available to each House of Congress— 2
‘‘(i) a complete copy of the cost-benefit analysis 3
of the rule, if any, including an analysis of any jobs 4
added or lost, differentiating between public and pri-5
vate sector jobs; 6
‘‘(ii) the agency’s actions pursuant to sections 7
603, 604, 605, 607, and 609 of this title; 8
‘‘(iii) the agency’s actions pursuant to sections 9
202, 203, 204, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates 10
Reform Act of 1995; and 11
‘‘(iv) any other relevant information or require-12
ments under any other Act and any relevant Execu-13
tive orders. 14
‘‘(C) Upon receipt of a report submitted under sub-15
paragraph (A), each House shall provide copies of the report 16
to the chairman and ranking member of each standing com-17
mittee with jurisdiction under the rules of the House of Rep-18
resentatives or the Senate to report a bill to amend the pro-19
vision of law under which the rule is issued. 20
‘‘(2)(A) The Comptroller General shall provide a re-21
port on each major rule to the committees of jurisdiction 22
by the end of 15 calendar days after the submission or pub-23
lication date. The report of the Comptroller General shall 24
include an assessment of the agency’s compliance with pro-25
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cedural steps required by paragraph (1)(B) and an assess-1
ment of whether the major rule imposes any new limits or 2
mandates on private-sector activity. 3
‘‘(B) Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Comp-4
troller General by providing information relevant to the 5
Comptroller General’s report under subparagraph (A). 6
‘‘(3) A major rule relating to a report submitted under 7
paragraph (1) shall take effect upon enactment of a joint 8
resolution of approval described in section 802 or as pro-9
vided for in the rule following enactment of a joint resolu-10
tion of approval described in section 802, whichever is later. 11
‘‘(4) A nonmajor rule shall take effect as provided by 12
section 803 after submission to Congress under paragraph 13
(1). 14
‘‘(5) If a joint resolution of approval relating to a 15
major rule is not enacted within the period provided in sub-16
section (b)(2), then a joint resolution of approval relating 17
to the same rule may not be considered under this chapter 18
in the same Congress by either the House of Representatives 19
or the Senate. 20
‘‘(b)(1) A major rule shall not take effect unless the 21
Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval described 22
under section 802. 23
‘‘(2) If a joint resolution described in subsection (a) 24
is not enacted into law by the end of 70 session days or 25
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legislative days, as applicable, beginning on the date on 1
which the report referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A) is re-2
ceived by Congress (excluding days either House of Congress 3
is adjourned for more than 3 days during a session of Con-4
gress), then the rule described in that resolution shall be 5
deemed not to be approved and such rule shall not take ef-6
fect. 7
‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 8
section (except subject to paragraph (3)), a major rule may 9
take effect for one 90-calendar-day period if the President 10
makes a determination under paragraph (2) and submits 11
written notice of such determination to the Congress. 12
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) applies to a determination made 13
by the President by Executive order that the major rule 14
should take effect because such rule is— 15
‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent threat to 16
health or safety or other emergency; 17
‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 18
laws; 19
‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or 20
‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute imple-21
menting an international trade agreement. 22
‘‘(3) An exercise by the President of the authority 23
under this subsection shall have no effect on the procedures 24
under section 802. 25
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‘‘(d)(1) In addition to the opportunity for review oth-1
erwise provided under this chapter, in the case of any rule 2
for which a report was submitted in accordance with sub-3
section (a)(1)(A) during the period beginning on the date 4
occurring— 5
‘‘(A) in the case of the Senate, 60 session days; 6
or 7
‘‘(B) in the case of the House of Representatives, 8
60 legislative days, 9
before the date the Congress is scheduled to adjourn a session 10
of Congress through the date on which the same or suc-11
ceeding Congress first convenes its next session, sections 802 12
and 803 shall apply to such rule in the succeeding session 13
of Congress. 14
‘‘(2)(A) In applying sections 802 and 803 for purposes 15
of such additional review, a rule described under paragraph 16
(1) shall be treated as though— 17
‘‘(i) such rule were published in the Federal Reg-18
ister on— 19
‘‘(I) in the case of the Senate, the 15th ses-20
sion day; or 21
‘‘(II) in the case of the House of Representa-22
tives, the 15th legislative day, 23
after the succeeding session of Congress first convenes; 24
and 25
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‘‘(ii) a report on such rule were submitted to 1
Congress under subsection (a)(1) on such date. 2
‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to 3
affect the requirement under subsection (a)(1) that a report 4
shall be submitted to Congress before a rule can take effect. 5
‘‘(3) A rule described under paragraph (1) shall take 6
effect as otherwise provided by law (including other sub-7
sections of this section). 8
‘‘§ 802. Congressional approval procedure for major 9
rules 10
‘‘(a)(1) For purposes of this section, the term ‘joint res-11
olution’ means only a joint resolution addressing a report 12
classifying a rule as major pursuant to section 13
801(a)(1)(A)(iii) that— 14
‘‘(A) bears no preamble; 15
‘‘(B) bears the following title (with blanks filled 16
as appropriate): ‘Approving the rule submitted by 17
lll relating to lll.’; 18
‘‘(C) includes after its resolving clause only the 19
following (with blanks filled as appropriate): ‘That 20
Congress approves the rule submitted by lll re-21
lating to lll.’; and 22
‘‘(D) is introduced pursuant to paragraph (2). 23
‘‘(2) After a House of Congress receives a report 24
classifying a rule as major pursuant to section 25
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801(a)(1)(A)(iii), the majority leader of that House (or his 1
or her respective designee) shall introduce (by request, if ap-2
propriate) a joint resolution described in paragraph (1)— 3
‘‘(A) in the case of the House of Representatives, 4
within 3 legislative days; and 5
‘‘(B) in the case of the Senate, within 3 session 6
days. 7
‘‘(3) A joint resolution described in paragraph (1) 8
shall not be subject to amendment at any stage of pro-9
ceeding. 10
‘‘(b) A joint resolution described in subsection (a) shall 11
be referred in each House of Congress to the committees hav-12
ing jurisdiction over the provision of law under which the 13
rule is issued. 14
‘‘(c) In the Senate, if the committee or committees to 15
which a joint resolution described in subsection (a) has been 16
referred have not reported it at the end of 15 session days 17
after its introduction, such committee or committees shall 18
be automatically discharged from further consideration of 19
the resolution and it shall be placed on the calendar. A vote 20
on final passage of the resolution shall be taken on or before 21
the close of the 15th session day after the resolution is re-22
ported by the committee or committees to which it was re-23
ferred, or after such committee or committees have been dis-24
charged from further consideration of the resolution. 25
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‘‘(d)(1) In the Senate, when the committee or commit-1
tees to which a joint resolution is referred have reported, 2
or when a committee or committees are discharged (under 3
subsection (c)) from further consideration of a joint resolu-4
tion described in subsection (a), it is at any time thereafter 5
in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect 6
has been disagreed to) for a motion to proceed to the consid-7
eration of the joint resolution, and all points of order 8
against the joint resolution (and against consideration of 9
the joint resolution) are waived. The motion is not subject 10
to amendment, or to a motion to postpone, or to a motion 11
to proceed to the consideration of other business. A motion 12
to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or 13
disagreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed 14
to the consideration of the joint resolution is agreed to, the 15
joint resolution shall remain the unfinished business of the 16
Senate until disposed of. 17
‘‘(2) In the Senate, debate on the joint resolution, and 18
on all debatable motions and appeals in connection there-19
with, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, which shall 20
be divided equally between those favoring and those oppos-21
ing the joint resolution. A motion to further limit debate 22
is in order and not debatable. An amendment to, or a mo-23
tion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration 24
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of other business, or a motion to recommit the joint resolu-1
tion is not in order. 2
‘‘(3) In the Senate, immediately following the conclu-3
sion of the debate on a joint resolution described in sub-4
section (a), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of 5
the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the 6
Senate, the vote on final passage of the joint resolution shall 7
occur. 8
‘‘(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating 9
to the application of the rules of the Senate to the procedure 10
relating to a joint resolution described in subsection (a) 11
shall be decided without debate. 12
‘‘(e) In the House of Representatives, if any committee 13
to which a joint resolution described in subsection (a) has 14
been referred has not reported it to the House at the end 15
of 15 legislative days after its introduction, such committee 16
shall be discharged from further consideration of the joint 17
resolution, and it shall be placed on the appropriate cal-18
endar. On the second and fourth Thursdays of each month 19
it shall be in order at any time for the Speaker to recognize 20
a Member who favors passage of a joint resolution that has 21
appeared on the calendar for at least 5 legislative days to 22
call up that joint resolution for immediate consideration 23
in the House without intervention of any point of order. 24
When so called up a joint resolution shall be considered as 25
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read and shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and 1
controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and the pre-2
vious question shall be considered as ordered to its passage 3
without intervening motion. It shall not be in order to re-4
consider the vote on passage. If a vote on final passage of 5
the joint resolution has not been taken by the third Thurs-6
day on which the Speaker may recognize a Member under 7
this subsection, such vote shall be taken on that day. 8
‘‘(f)(1) If, before passing a joint resolution described 9
in subsection (a), one House receives from the other a joint 10
resolution having the same text, then— 11
‘‘(A) the joint resolution of the other House shall 12
not be referred to a committee; and 13
‘‘(B) the procedure in the receiving House shall 14
be the same as if no joint resolution had been received 15
from the other House until the vote on passage, when 16
the joint resolution received from the other House 17
shall supplant the joint resolution of the receiving 18
House. 19
‘‘(2) This subsection shall not apply to the House of 20
Representatives if the joint resolution received from the Sen-21
ate is a revenue measure. 22
‘‘(g) If either House has not taken a vote on final pas-23
sage of the joint resolution by the last day of the period 24
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described in section 801(b)(2), then such vote shall be taken 1
on that day. 2
‘‘(h) This section and section 803 are enacted by Con-3
gress— 4
‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 5
the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, 6
and as such are deemed to be part of the rules of each 7
House, respectively, but applicable only with respect 8
to the procedure to be followed in that House in the 9
case of a joint resolution described in subsection (a) 10
and superseding other rules only where explicitly so; 11
and 12
‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 13
right of either House to change the rules (so far as 14
they relate to the procedure of that House) at any 15
time, in the same manner and to the same extent as 16
in the case of any other rule of that House. 17
‘‘§ 803. Congressional disapproval procedure for 18
nonmajor rules 19
‘‘(a) For purposes of this section, the term ‘joint resolu-20
tion’ means only a joint resolution introduced in the period 21
beginning on the date on which the report referred to in 22
section 801(a)(1)(A) is received by Congress and ending 60 23
days thereafter (excluding days either House of Congress is 24
adjourned for more than 3 days during a session of Con-25
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gress), the matter after the resolving clause of which is as 1
follows: ‘That Congress disapproves the nonmajor rule sub-2
mitted by the lll relating to lll, and such rule 3
shall have no force or effect.’ (The blank spaces being appro-4
priately filled in). 5
‘‘(b) A joint resolution described in subsection (a) shall 6
be referred to the committees in each House of Congress with 7
jurisdiction. 8
‘‘(c) In the Senate, if the committee to which is referred 9
a joint resolution described in subsection (a) has not re-10
ported such joint resolution (or an identical joint resolu-11
tion) at the end of 15 session days after the date of introduc-12
tion of the joint resolution, such committee may be dis-13
charged from further consideration of such joint resolution 14
upon a petition supported in writing by 30 Members of the 15
Senate, and such joint resolution shall be placed on the cal-16
endar. 17
‘‘(d)(1) In the Senate, when the committee to which 18
a joint resolution is referred has reported, or when a com-19
mittee is discharged (under subsection (c)) from further con-20
sideration of a joint resolution described in subsection (a), 21
it is at any time thereafter in order (even though a previous 22
motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) for a motion 23
to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution, and 24
all points of order against the joint resolution (and against 25
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consideration of the joint resolution) are waived. The mo-1
tion is not subject to amendment, or to a motion to post-2
pone, or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of other 3
business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the mo-4
tion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. If 5
a motion to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolu-6
tion is agreed to, the joint resolution shall remain the unfin-7
ished business of the Senate until disposed of. 8
‘‘(2) In the Senate, debate on the joint resolution, and 9
on all debatable motions and appeals in connection there-10
with, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, which 11
shall be divided equally between those favoring and those 12
opposing the joint resolution. A motion to further limit de-13
bate is in order and not debatable. An amendment to, or 14
a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consid-15
eration of other business, or a motion to recommit the joint 16
resolution is not in order. 17
‘‘(3) In the Senate, immediately following the conclu-18
sion of the debate on a joint resolution described in sub-19
section (a), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of 20
the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the 21
Senate, the vote on final passage of the joint resolution shall 22
occur. 23
‘‘(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating 24
to the application of the rules of the Senate to the procedure 25
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relating to a joint resolution described in subsection (a) 1
shall be decided without debate. 2
‘‘(e) In the Senate, the procedure specified in sub-3
section (c) or (d) shall not apply to the consideration of 4
a joint resolution respecting a nonmajor rule— 5
‘‘(1) after the expiration of the 60 session days 6
beginning with the applicable submission or publica-7
tion date; or 8
‘‘(2) if the report under section 801(a)(1)(A) was 9
submitted during the period referred to in section 10
801(d)(1), after the expiration of the 60 session days 11
beginning on the 15th session day after the succeeding 12
session of Congress first convenes. 13
‘‘(f) If, before the passage by one House of a joint reso-14
lution of that House described in subsection (a), that House 15
receives from the other House a joint resolution described 16
in subsection (a), then the following procedures shall apply: 17
‘‘(1) The joint resolution of the other House shall 18
not be referred to a committee. 19
‘‘(2) With respect to a joint resolution described 20
in subsection (a) of the House receiving the joint reso-21
lution— 22
‘‘(A) the procedure in that House shall be 23
the same as if no joint resolution had been re-24
ceived from the other House; but 25
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‘‘(B) the vote on final passage shall be on 1
the joint resolution of the other House. 2
‘‘§ 804. Definitions 3
‘‘For purposes of this chapter: 4
‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal agency’ means any agen-5
cy as that term is defined in section 551(1). 6
‘‘(2) The term ‘major rule’ means any rule, in-7
cluding an interim final rule, that the Administrator 8
of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of 9
the Office of Management and Budget finds has re-10
sulted in or is likely to result in— 11
‘‘(A) an annual effect on the economy of 12
$100 million or more; 13
‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 14
consumers, individual industries, Federal, State, 15
or local government agencies, or geographic re-16
gions; or 17
‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi-18
tion, employment, investment, productivity, in-19
novation, or the ability of United States-based 20
enterprises to compete with foreign-based enter-21
prises in domestic and export markets. 22
‘‘(3) The term ‘nonmajor rule’ means any rule 23
that is not a major rule. 24
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‘‘(4) The term ‘rule’ has the meaning given such 1
term in section 551, except that such term does not 2
include— 3
‘‘(A) any rule of particular applicability, 4
including a rule that approves or prescribes for 5
the future rates, wages, prices, services, or allow-6
ances therefore, corporate or financial structures, 7
reorganizations, mergers, or acquisitions thereof, 8
or accounting practices or disclosures bearing on 9
any of the foregoing; 10
‘‘(B) any rule relating to agency manage-11
ment or personnel; or 12
‘‘(C) any rule of agency organization, pro-13
cedure, or practice that does not substantially af-14
fect the rights or obligations of non-agency par-15
ties. 16
‘‘(5) The term ‘submission or publication date’, 17
except as otherwise provided in this chapter, means— 18
‘‘(A) in the case of a major rule, the date 19
on which the Congress receives the report sub-20
mitted under section 801(a)(1); and 21
‘‘(B) in the case of a nonmajor rule, the 22
later of— 23
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‘‘(i) the date on which the Congress re-1
ceives the report submitted under section 2
801(a)(1); and 3
‘‘(ii) the date on which the nonmajor 4
rule is published in the Federal Register, if 5
so published. 6
‘‘§ 805. Judicial review 7
‘‘(a) No determination, finding, action, or omission 8
under this chapter shall be subject to judicial review. 9
‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a court may de-10
termine whether a Federal agency has completed the nec-11
essary requirements under this chapter for a rule to take 12
effect. 13
‘‘(c) The enactment of a joint resolution of approval 14
under section 802 shall not be interpreted to serve as a 15
grant or modification of statutory authority by Congress 16
for the promulgation of a rule, shall not extinguish or affect 17
any claim, whether substantive or procedural, against any 18
alleged defect in a rule, and shall not form part of the record 19
before the court in any judicial proceeding concerning a 20
rule except for purposes of determining whether or not the 21
rule is in effect. 22
‘‘§ 806. Exemption for monetary policy 23
‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall apply to rules that con-24
cern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the 25
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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the 1
Federal Open Market Committee. 2
‘‘§ 807. Effective date of certain rules 3
‘‘Notwithstanding section 801— 4
‘‘(1) any rule that establishes, modifies, opens, 5
closes, or conducts a regulatory program for a com-6
mercial, recreational, or subsistence activity related to 7
hunting, fishing, or camping; or 8
‘‘(2) any rule other than a major rule which an 9
agency for good cause finds (and incorporates the 10
finding and a brief statement of reasons therefore in 11
the rule issued) that notice and public procedure 12
thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 13
the public interest, 14
shall take effect at such time as the Federal agency promul-15
gating the rule determines.’’. 16
SEC. 4. BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF RULES SUBJECT TO SEC-17
TION 802 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE. 18
Section 257(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-19
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 907(b)(2)) is 20
amended by adding at the end the following new subpara-21
graph: 22
‘‘(E) B
UDGETARY EFFECTS OF RULES SUB -23
JECT TO SECTION 802 OF TITLE 5 , UNITED 24
STATES CODE.—Any rule subject to the congres-25
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sional approval procedure set forth in section 1
802 of chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, 2
affecting budget authority, outlays, or receipts 3
shall be assumed to be effective unless it is not 4
approved in accordance with such section.’’. 5
SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY OF 6
RULES. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 8
United States shall conduct a study to determine, as of the 9
date of the enactment of this Act— 10
(1) how many rules (as such term is defined in 11
section 804 of title 5, United States Code) were in ef-12
fect; 13
(2) how many major rules (as such term is de-14
fined in section 804 of title 5, United States Code) 15
were in effect; and 16
(3) the total estimated economic cost imposed by 17
all such rules. 18
(b) R
EPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 19
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 20
United States shall submit a report to Congress that con-21
tains the findings of the study conducted under subsection 22
(a). 23
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ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No.
61
118
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
H. R. 277
[Report No. 118–84, Part I]
A BILL
To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code,
to provide that major rules of the executive
branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint
resolution of approval is enacted into law.
J
UNE
1, 2023
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an
amendment
J
UNE
1, 2023
Committees on Rules and the Budget discharged; com-
mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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