I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1605
To amend title 5, United States Code, to clarify the nature of judicial
review of agency interpretations of statutory and regulatory provisions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY26, 2025
Mr. F
ITZGERALDintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to clarify the nature
of judicial review of agency interpretations of statutory
and regulatory provisions.
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 ‘‘Separation of Powers 4
Restoration Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘SOPRA’’. 5
SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF STATUTORY AND REGU-6
LATORY INTERPRETATIONS. 7
Section 706 of title 5, United States Code, is amend-8
ed— 9
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•HR 1605 IH
(1) by striking ‘‘To the extent necessary’’ and 1
inserting ‘‘(a) To the extent necessary’’; 2
(2) by striking ‘‘decide all relevant questions of 3
law, interpret constitutional and statutory provi-4
sions, and’’; 5
(3) by inserting after ‘‘of the terms of an agen-6
cy action’’ the following ‘‘and decide de novo all rel-7
evant questions of law, including the interpretation 8
of constitutional and statutory provisions, and rules 9
made by agencies. Notwithstanding any other provi-10
sion of law, this subsection shall apply in any action 11
for judicial review of agency action authorized under 12
any provision of law. No law may exempt any such 13
civil action from the application of this section ex-14
cept by specific reference to this section’’; and 15
(4) by striking ‘‘The reviewing court shall—’’ 16
and inserting the following: 17
‘‘(b) The reviewing court shall—’’. 18
Æ
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