Rulemaking Accountability and Reform Act of 2023

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5930 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5930

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a clarification of the 
                 underlying authority for a rulemaking.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 11, 2023

                Mr. Posey introduced the following bill

                            October 25, 2023

               Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a clarification of the 
                 underlying authority for a rulemaking.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rulemaking Accountability and Reform 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. RULEMAKING.

    Section 553 of title 5, United States Code is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ``including a 
        complete recitation of each specific authority under law that 
        grants the agency the power to engage in the rule making, and 
        for each provision of the proposed rule the specific authority 
        or authorities under law that grant the agency the power to 
        promulgate the provision together with an explanation of why 
        the cited authority or authorities provide such power'' after 
        ``proposed''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Final Rule Statement of Authority.--Every rule made final 
shall include a complete recitation of each specific authority under 
law that grants the agency the power to engage in the rule making, and 
for each provision of the proposed rule the specific authority or 
authorities under law that grant the agency the power to promulgate the 
provision together with an explanation of why the cited authority or 
authorities provide such power.''.

SEC. 3. SCOPE OF REVIEW.

    Section 706(2) of title 5, United States Code is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) in the case of a final agency rule, whenever 
                the agency's assertion of authorities pursuant to 
                section 553(e) exceeds or does not reflect the powers 
                and authorities in fact confided to the agency by law; 
                or
                    ``(H) in the case of an agency action or rule that 
                claims the authority or power to resolve a major 
                question, Congress has not provided a clear statement 
                of such authority or power.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on the effective date 
of this Act no rule may continue in effect to the extent that it was 
made in violation of the amendments made by this Act, if such 
amendments were in effect on the date such rule was made.
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