118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 357
AN ACT
To require the head of an agency to issue and sign any
rule issued by that agency, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2
•HR 357 EH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Account-2
ability in Agency Rulemaking Act’’. 3
SEC. 2. RULEMAKING REQUIREMENTS. 4
(a) A
PPROVALREQUIRED.— 5
(1) R
ULES PROMULGATED BY SENATE CON -6
FIRMED APPOINTEE .—Except as provided in para-7
graph (3), any rule promulgated under section 553 8
of title 5, United States Code, shall be issued and 9
signed by an individual appointed by the President, 10
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 11
(2) I
NITIATION OF RULEMAKING AND REGU -12
LATORY AGENDA.—Except as provided in paragraph 13
(3), any rule initiated under section 553 of title 5, 14
United States Code, shall be initiated by a senior 15
appointee. 16
(3) E
XCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) or (2) does 17
not apply if the head of an agency— 18
(A) determines, on a nondelegable basis, 19
that compliance with the relevant paragraph 20
would impede public safety or security; 21
(B) submits to the Administrator a notifi-22
cation disclosing the reasons for the exemption; 23
and 24 3
•HR 357 EH
(C) publishes such notification, consistent 1
with public safety, security, and privacy inter-2
ests, in the Federal Register. 3
(b) O
VERSIGHT.— 4
(1) A
GENCY COMPLIANCE .—The head of each 5
agency shall ensure that the issuance of any agency 6
rule promulgated under section 553 of title 5, 7
United States Code, adheres to the requirements of 8
this section. 9
(2) OIRA
GUIDANCE AND COMPLIANCE .—The 10
Administrator shall provide guidance on the imple-11
mentation of and shall monitor agency compliance 12
with this section. 13
(c) R
ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—This section may 14
not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the func-15
tions of the Director of the Office of Management and 16
Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative 17
proposals. 18
(d) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 19
(1) A
DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-20
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Office of In-21
formation and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Of-22
fice of Management and Budget (OMB). 23 4
•HR 357 EH
(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 1
meaning given that term under section 551 of title 2
5, United States Code. 3
(3) R
ULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 4
given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 5
States Code, and does not include any rule of agency 6
organization, procedure, or practice that does not 7
substantially affect the rights or obligations of non- 8
agency parties. 9
(4) S
ENIOR APPOINTEE.—The term ‘‘senior ap-10
pointee’’ means an individual appointed by the 11
President, or performing the functions and duties of 12
an office that requires appointment by the Presi-13
dent, or a non-career member of the Senior Execu-14
tive Service (or equivalent agency system). 15
Passed the House of Representatives December 12,
2023.
Attest:
Clerk. 118
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
H. R. 357
AN ACT
To require the head of an agency to issue and sign
any rule issued by that agency, and for other
purposes.