I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 418
To require the head of an agency to issue and sign any rule issued by
that agency, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY15, 2025
Mr. C
LINE(for himself, Mr. GOLDENof Maine, Ms. HAGEMAN, Mr. ELLZEY,
Mr. C
RENSHAW, Mr. BRECHEEN, Mr. FITZGERALD, and Mr. GREENof
Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
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
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Account-4
ability in Agency Rulemaking Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. RULEMAKING REQUIREMENTS. 6
(a) A
PPROVALREQUIRED.— 7
(1) R
ULES PROMULGATED BY SENATE CON -8
FIRMED APPOINTEE .—Except as provided in para-9
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•HR 418 IH
graph (3), any rule promulgated under section 553 1
of title 5, United States Code, shall be issued and 2
signed by an individual appointed by the President, 3
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 4
(2) I
NITIATION OF RULEMAKING AND REGU -5
LATORY AGENDA.—Except as provided in paragraph 6
(3), any rule initiated under section 553 of title 5, 7
United States Code, shall be initiated by a senior 8
appointee. 9
(3) E
XCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) or (2) does 10
not apply if the head of an agency— 11
(A) determines, on a nondelegable basis, 12
that compliance with the relevant paragraph 13
would impede public safety or security; 14
(B) submits to the Administrator a notifi-15
cation disclosing the reasons for the exemption; 16
and 17
(C) publishes such notification, consistent 18
with public safety, security, and privacy inter-19
ests, in the Federal Register. 20
(b) O
VERSIGHT.— 21
(1) A
GENCY COMPLIANCE .—The head of each 22
agency shall ensure that the issuance of any agency 23
rule promulgated under section 553 of title 5, 24
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•HR 418 IH
United States Code, adheres to the requirements of 1
this section. 2
(2) OIRA
GUIDANCE AND COMPLIANCE .—The 3
Administrator shall provide guidance on the imple-4
mentation of and shall monitor agency compliance 5
with this section. 6
(c) R
ULES OFCONSTRUCTION.—This section may 7
not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the func-8
tions of the Director of the Office of Management and 9
Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative 10
proposals. 11
(d) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 12
(1) A
DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-13
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Office of In-14
formation and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Of-15
fice of Management and Budget (OMB). 16
(2) A
GENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 17
meaning given that term under section 551 of title 18
5, United States Code. 19
(3) R
ULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 20
given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 21
States Code, and does not include any rule of agency 22
organization, procedure, or practice that does not 23
substantially affect the rights or obligations of non- 24
agency parties. 25
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•HR 418 IH
(4) SENIOR APPOINTEE.—The term ‘‘senior ap-1
pointee’’ means an individual appointed by the 2
President, or performing the functions and duties of 3
an office that requires appointment by the Presi-4
dent, or a non-career member of the Senior Execu-5
tive Service (or equivalent agency system). 6
Æ
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