II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 463 

To require congressional approval of national emergency declarations and 

to repeal the emergency powers and authorities most susceptible to abuse, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require congressional approval of national emergency declarations and to repeal the emergency powers and authorities most susceptible to abuse, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reforming Emergency 

5 Powers to Uphold the Balances and Limitations Inherent 

6 in the Constitution Act’’ or the ‘‘REPUBLIC Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF NATIONAL EMER2 GENCY DECLARATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the National 

4 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 201. DECLARATION AND CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL 

7 OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to Acts of Congress 

9 authorizing the exercise, during the period of a national 

10 emergency, of any special or extraordinary power, the 

11 President is authorized to declare such national emer12 gency. Such proclamation shall immediately be trans13 mitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register. 

14 ‘‘(b) SPECIFICATION OF POWERS AND AUTHORI15 TIES.—The President shall specify, in the proclamation 

16 declaring a national emergency under subsection (a) or in 

17 one or more contemporaneous or subsequent Executive or18 ders published in the Federal Register and transmitted to 

19 Congress, the provisions of law made available for use in 

20 the event of an emergency pursuant to which the Presi21 dent proposes that the President, or another official, will 

22 exercise emergency powers or authorities. 

23 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION AFTER 72 HOURS UNLESS AP24 PROVED BY CONGRESS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para26 graph (2), a national emergency declared under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S463.IS S463

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1 section (a), and the exercise of emergency powers 

2 and authorities pursuant to provisions of law de3 scribed in subsection (b), shall terminate at the time 

4 specified in paragraph (3). 

5 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL BY CONGRESS REQUIRED.—A 

6 national emergency declared under subsection (a), 

7 and the exercise of any emergency power or author8 ity pursuant to a provision of law described in sub9 section (b), may continue after the time specified in 

10 paragraph (3) only if, before that time, there is en11 acted into law a joint resolution of approval pursu12 ant to subsection (f) approving— 

13 ‘‘(A) the declaration of the emergency; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the exercise of that power or author15 ity. 

16 ‘‘(3) TIME SPECIFIED.—The time specified in 

17 this paragraph is— 

18 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

19 (B), 72 hours after the President declares the 

20 national emergency; or 

21 ‘‘(B) if Congress is unable to convene dur22 ing the 72-hour period described in subpara23 graph (A), 72 hours after Congress first con24 venes after the declaration of the emergency. 


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1 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION AFTER 90 DAYS UNLESS RE2 NEWED WITH CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.—A national 

3 emergency declared under subsection (a) with respect to 

4 which a joint resolution of approval is enacted under sub5 section (f), and the exercise of any emergency power or 

6 authority pursuant to that emergency, shall terminate on 

7 the date that is 90 days after the President declares the 

8 emergency (or the emergency was previously renewed 

9 under this subsection), unless, before the termination of 

10 the emergency— 

11 ‘‘(1) the President publishes in the Federal 

12 Register and transmits to Congress an Executive 

13 order— 

14 ‘‘(A) renewing the emergency; and 

15 ‘‘(B) specifying the provisions of law made 

16 available for use in the event of an emergency 

17 pursuant to which the President proposes that 

18 the President, or another official, will exercise 

19 emergency powers or authorities; and 

20 ‘‘(2) there is enacted a joint resolution of ap21 proval with respect to— 

22 ‘‘(A) the renewal of the emergency; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the exercise of that power or author24 ity. 


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1 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS IF

2 EMERGENCIES NOT APPROVED.— 

3 ‘‘(1) SUBSEQUENT DECLARATIONS.—If a joint 

4 resolution of approval is not enacted pursuant to 

5 subsection (f) with respect to a national emergency 

6 declared under subsection (a) or proposed to be re7 newed under subsection (d), the President may not, 

8 during the remainder of the term of office of that 

9 President, declare a subsequent national emergency 

10 under subsection (a) with respect to the same cir11 cumstances. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES.—If a joint 

13 resolution of approval is not enacted pursuant to 

14 subsection (f) with respect to a power or authority 

15 proposed by the President under subsection (b) to be 

16 exercised with respect to a national emergency, the 

17 President may not, during the remainder of the term 

18 of office of that President, exercise that power or 

19 authority with respect to that emergency. 

20 ‘‘(f) JOINT RESOLUTIONS OF APPROVAL.— 

21 ‘‘(1) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL DE22 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term 

23 ‘joint resolution of approval’ means a joint resolution 

24 that contains after its resolving clause— 

25 ‘‘(A) a provision approving— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a proclamation of a national 

2 emergency made under subsection (a); 

3 ‘‘(ii) an Executive order issued under 

4 subsection (b) specifying the provisions of 

5 law pursuant to which the President pro6 poses to exercise emergency powers or au7 thorities; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) an Executive order issued under 

9 subsection (d) renewing a national emer10 gency; and 

11 ‘‘(B) a provision approving a list of all or 

12 some of the provisions of law specified by the 

13 President under subsection (b) and included in 

14 the proclamation or Executive order, as the 

15 case may be. 

16 ‘‘(2) INTRODUCTION.—After the President 

17 transmits to Congress a proclamation described in 

18 clause (i) of paragraph (1)(A) or an Executive order 

19 described in clause (ii) or (iii) of that paragraph, a 

20 joint resolution of approval may be introduced in ei21 ther House of Congress by any Member of that 

22 House. 

23 ‘‘(3) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—A joint resolu24 tion of approval shall be referred in each House of 

25 Congress to the committee or committees having juVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S463.IS S463

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1 risdiction over the emergency powers and authorities 

2 invoked by the proclamation or Executive order that 

3 is the subject of the joint resolution. 

4 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—If the 

6 committee to which a joint resolution of ap7 proval has been referred has not reported it at 

8 the end of 2 calendar days after its introduc9 tion, that committee shall be automatically dis10 charged from further consideration of the reso11 lution and it shall be placed on the calendar. 

12 ‘‘(B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

13 Notwithstanding Rule XXII of the Standing 

14 Rules of the Senate, when the committee to 

15 which a joint resolution of approval is referred 

16 has reported the resolution, or when that com17 mittee is discharged under subparagraph (A) 

18 from further consideration of the resolution, it 

19 is at any time thereafter in order (even though 

20 a previous motion to the same effect has been 

21 disagreed to) for a motion to proceed to the 

22 consideration of the joint resolution, and all 

23 points of order against the joint resolution (and 

24 against consideration of the joint resolution) 

25 are waived. The motion to proceed is not debatVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S463.IS S463

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1 able. The motion is not subject to amendment, 

2 or to a motion to postpone, or to a motion to 

3 proceed to the consideration of other business. 

4 ‘‘(C) AMENDMENTS.—No amendments 

5 shall be in order with respect to a joint resolu6 tion of approval, except for amendments that 

7 strike provisions from the list of provisions of 

8 law required by paragraph (1)(B) or otherwise 

9 narrow the scope of emergency powers and au10 thorities authorized to be exercised pursuant to 

11 such provisions of law. 

12 ‘‘(D) MOTION TO RECONSIDER FINAL

13 VOTE.—A motion to reconsider a vote on final 

14 passage of a joint resolution of approval shall 

15 not be in order. 

16 ‘‘(E) APPEALS.—Points of order, including 

17 questions of relevancy, and appeals from the de18 cision of the Presiding Officer, shall be decided 

19 without debate. 

20 ‘‘(5) CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP21 RESENTATIVES.—In the House of Representatives, if 

22 any committee to which a joint resolution of ap23 proval has been referred has not reported it to the 

24 House at the end of 2 calendar days after its intro25 duction, that committee shall be discharged from 


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1 further consideration of the joint resolution, and the 

2 resolution shall be placed on the appropriate cal3 endar. It shall be in order at any time for the 

4 Speaker to recognize a Member who favors passage 

5 of a joint resolution to call up that joint resolution 

6 for immediate consideration in the House without 

7 intervention of any point of order. When so called up 

8 a joint resolution shall be considered as read and 

9 shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and 

10 controlled by the proponent and an opponent. It 

11 shall not be in order to reconsider the vote on pas12 sage. 

13 ‘‘(6) RECEIPT OF RESOLUTION FROM OTHER

14 HOUSE.—If, before passing a joint resolution of ap15 proval, one House receives a joint resolution of ap16 proval from the other House, then— 

17 ‘‘(A) the joint resolution of the other 

18 House shall not be referred to a committee and 

19 shall be deemed to have been discharged from 

20 committee on the day it is received; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the procedures set forth in paragraph 

22 (4) or (5), as applicable, shall apply in the re23 ceiving House to the joint resolution received 

24 from the other House to the same extent as 


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1 such procedures apply to a joint resolution of 

2 the receiving House. 

3 ‘‘(g) EFFECT OF LATER-ENACTED LAWS.—No law 

4 enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act shall 

5 supersede this title unless it does so in specific terms, re6 ferring to this title, and declaring that the new law super7 sedes the provisions of this title.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The National 

9 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 202— 

11 (A) in subsection (a)— 

12 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

13 (1), by striking ‘‘declared by the President 

14 in accordance with this title’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘in effect under section 201’’; and 

16 (ii) in the flush text, by striking ‘‘de17 clared by the President’’ and inserting ‘‘in 

18 effect under section 201’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (c), by striking para20 graph (5); and 

21 (C) by amending subsection (d) to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(d) Subsection (b) and section 201(f) are enacted 

24 by Congress— 


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1 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

2 the Senate and the House of Representatives, re3 spectively, and as such they are deemed a part of 

4 the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable 

5 only with respect to the procedure to be followed in 

6 the House in the case of resolutions described by 

7 this title, and they supersede other rules only to the 

8 extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 

9 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

10 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

11 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

12 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

13 the case of any other rule of that House.’’; and 

14 (2) by striking title III. 

15 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EMERGENCY AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND 

16 TELECOMMUNICATIONS RULES AND REGULA17 TIONS. 

18 Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

19 U.S.C. 606) is amended by striking subsection (c). 

20 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

21 Except as provided in section 6(a), the amendments 

22 made by this Act shall apply with respect to national emer23 gencies declared under section 201 of the National Emer24 gencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) on or after the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF EXISTING EMERGENCY DECLARA2 TIONS. 

3 Each national emergency declared under section 201 

4 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) before 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act (other than a na6 tional emergency described in section 6(b)) shall terminate 

7 on such date of enactment. 

8 SEC. 6. NONAPPLICABILITY WITH RESPECT TO INTER9 NATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POWERS 

10 ACT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a national emer12 gency declared on or after the date of the enactment of 

13 this Act under which the President proposes to exercise 

14 emergency powers and authorities pursuant to the Inter15 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

16 1701 et seq.)— 

17 (1) the amendments made by this Act shall not 

18 apply; and 

19 (2) the provisions of the National Emergencies 

20 Act, as in effect on the day before such date of en21 actment, shall apply. 

22 (b) CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF NATIONAL EMER23 GENCY DECLARATIONS.—A national emergency declared 

24 before the date of the enactment of this Act under which 

25 the President exercises emergency powers and authorities 


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1 pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Pow2 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) shall— 

3 (1) continue in effect on and after such date of 

4 enactment; and 

5 (2) terminate in accordance with the provisions 

6 of the National Emergencies Act, as in effect on the 

7 day before such date of enactment. 

Æ 


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