I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 903 

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for 

Congressional oversight of agency rulemaking, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2019 

Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide 

for Congressional oversight of agency rulemaking, 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 ‘‘Sunset Act of 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE6 MAKING. 

7 Chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

8 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 8—CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW 

2 OF AGENCY RULEMAKING 

‘‘801. Congressional review. 

‘‘802. Congressional approval procedure for rules. 

‘‘803. Definitions. 

‘‘804. Judicial review. 

‘‘805. Exemption for monetary policy. 

‘‘806. Review of rules currently in effect. 

‘‘807. Sunset for rules. 

3 ‘‘§ 801. Congressional review 

4 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) Beginning on the date that is 3 months 

5 after the date of enactment of this section and every 3 

6 months thereafter, each agency shall submit to each 

7 House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General a 

8 report including each rule made by that agency during 

9 that 3-month period, containing— 

10 ‘‘(i) a copy of each such rule; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a concise general statement relating to the 

12 rule; 

13 ‘‘(iii) a list of any other related regulatory ac14 tions intended to implement the same statutory pro15 vision or regulatory objective as well as the indi16 vidual and aggregate economic effects of those ac17 tions; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) the proposed effective date of the rule. 

19 ‘‘(B) No rule may take effect before the submission 

20 of a report under subparagraph (A) that includes that 

21 rule. 


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1 ‘‘(C) On the date of the submission of the report 

2 under subparagraph (A), the Federal agency promulgating 

3 each rule included in the report shall submit to the Comp4 troller General and make available to each House of Con5 gress— 

6 ‘‘(i) a complete copy of the cost-benefit analysis 

7 of the rule, if any; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the agency’s actions pursuant to title 5 of 

9 the United States Code, sections 603, 604, 605, 

10 607, and 609; 

11 ‘‘(iii) the agency’s actions pursuant to title 2 of 

12 the United States Code, sections 1532, 1533, 1534, 

13 and 1535; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) any other relevant information or require15 ments under any other Act and any relevant Execu16 tive orders. 

17 ‘‘(D) Upon receipt of a report submitted under sub18 paragraph (A), each House shall provide copies of the re19 port to the chairman and ranking member of each stand20 ing committee with jurisdiction under the rules of the 

21 House of Representatives or the Senate to report a bill 

22 to amend the provision of law under which each rule in23 cluded in the report is issued. 

24 ‘‘(2)(A) The Comptroller General shall provide a re25 port on each rule to the committees of jurisdiction by the 


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1 end of 15 calendar days after the submission or publica2 tion date as provided in section 802(b)(2). The report of 

3 the Comptroller General shall include an assessment of the 

4 agency’s compliance with procedural steps required by 

5 paragraph (1)(C). 

6 ‘‘(B) Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Comp7 troller General by providing information relevant to the 

8 Comptroller General’s report under subparagraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(3) A rule included in a report submitted under 

10 paragraph (1) shall take effect upon enactment of a joint 

11 resolution of approval described in section 802 or as pro12 vided for in the rule following enactment of a joint resolu13 tion of approval described in section 802, whichever is 

14 later. 

15 ‘‘(4) If a joint resolution of approval relating to a 

16 rule is not enacted within the period provided in sub17 section (b)(2), then a joint resolution of approval relating 

18 to the same rule may not be considered under this chapter 

19 in the same Congress by either the House of Representa20 tives or the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(b)(1) A rule shall not take effect unless the Con22 gress enacts a joint resolution of approval described under 

23 section 802. 

24 ‘‘(2) If a joint resolution described in subsection (a) 

25 is not enacted into law by the end of 70 session days or 


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1 legislative days, as applicable, beginning on the date on 

2 which the report referred to in section 801(a)(1)(A) is re3 ceived by Congress (excluding days either House of Con4 gress is adjourned for more than 3 days during a session 

5 of Congress), then each rule described in that resolution 

6 shall be deemed not to be approved and such rule shall 

7 not take effect. 

8 ‘‘(3) Such a rule may not be reissued in substantially 

9 the same form, and a new rule that is substantially the 

10 same as such a rule may not be issued, unless the reissued 

11 or new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted 

12 after the date described in this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

14 section (except subject to paragraph (3)), a rule may take 

15 effect for one 90-calendar-day period if the President 

16 makes a determination under paragraph (2) and submits 

17 written notice of such determination to the Congress. 

18 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) applies to a determination made 

19 by the President by Executive order that the rule should 

20 take effect because such rule is— 

21 ‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent threat 

22 to health or safety or other emergency; 

23 ‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 

24 laws; 

25 ‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or 


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1 ‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute imple2 menting an international trade agreement. 

3 ‘‘(3) An exercise by the President of the authority 

4 under this subsection shall have no effect on the proce5 dures under section 802. 

6 ‘‘(d)(1) In addition to the opportunity for review oth7 erwise provided under this chapter, in the case of any rule 

8 included in a report submitted in accordance with sub9 section (a)(1)(A) during the period beginning on the date 

10 occurring— 

11 ‘‘(A) in the case of the Senate, 60 session days, 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of the House of Representa14 tives, 60 legislative days, 

15 before the date the Congress is scheduled to adjourn a 

16 session of Congress through the date on which the same 

17 or succeeding Congress first convenes its next session, sec18 tion 802 shall apply to such rule in the succeeding session 

19 of Congress. 

20 ‘‘(2)(A) In applying section 802 for purposes of such 

21 additional review, a rule described under paragraph (1) 

22 shall be treated as though— 

23 ‘‘(i) such rule were published in the Federal 

24 Register on— 


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1 ‘‘(I) in the case of the Senate, the 15th 

2 session day, or 

3 ‘‘(II) in the case of the House of Rep4 resentatives, the 15th legislative day, 

5 after the succeeding session of Congress first con6 venes; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a report on such rule were submitted to 

8 Congress under subsection (a)(1) on such date. 

9 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed 

10 to affect the requirement under subsection (a)(1) that a 

11 report shall be submitted to Congress before a rule can 

12 take effect. 

13 ‘‘(3) A rule described under paragraph (1) shall take 

14 effect as otherwise provided by law (including other sub15 sections of this section). 

16 ‘‘§ 802. Congressional approval procedure for rules 

17 ‘‘(a) For purposes of this section, the term ‘joint res18 olution’ means only a joint resolution introduced on or 

19 after the date on which the report referred to in section 

20 801(a)(1)(A) is received by Congress (excluding days ei21 ther House of Congress is adjourned for more than 3 days 

22 during a session of Congress), the matter after the resolv23 ing clause of which is as follows: ‘That Congress approves 

24 the rules submitted by the ll relating to ll.’ (The 

25 blank spaces being appropriately filled in). 


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1 ‘‘(1) In the House, the majority leader of the 

2 House of Representatives (or his designee) and the 

3 minority leader of the House of Representatives (or 

4 his designee) shall introduce such joint resolution 

5 described in subsection (a) (by request), within 3 

6 legislative days after Congress receives the report re7 ferred to in section 801(a)(1)(A). 

8 ‘‘(2) In the Senate, the majority leader of the 

9 Senate (or his designee) and the minority leader of 

10 the Senate (or his designee) shall introduce such 

11 joint resolution described in subsection (a) (by re12 quest), within 3 session days after Congress receives 

13 the report referred to in section 801(a)(1)(A). 

14 ‘‘(b)(1) A joint resolution described in subsection (a) 

15 shall be referred to the committees in each House of Con16 gress with jurisdiction under the rules of the House of 

17 Representatives or the Senate to report a bill to amend 

18 the provision of law under which the rule is issued. 

19 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘submis20 sion date’ means the date on which the Congress receives 

21 the report submitted under section 801(a)(1). 

22 ‘‘(c) In the Senate, if the committee or committees 

23 to which a joint resolution described in subsection (a) has 

24 been referred have not reported it at the end of 15 session 

25 days after its introduction, such committee or committees 


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1 shall be automatically discharged from further consider2 ation of the resolution and it shall be placed on the cal3 endar. A vote on final passage of the resolution shall be 

4 taken on or before the close of the 15th session day after 

5 the resolution is reported by the committee or committees 

6 to which it was referred, or after such committee or com7 mittees have been discharged from further consideration 

8 of the resolution. 

9 ‘‘(d)(1) In the Senate, when the committee or com10 mittees to which a joint resolution is referred have re11 ported, or when a committee or committees are discharged 

12 (under subsection (c)) from further consideration of a 

13 joint resolution described in subsection (a), it is at any 

14 time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion 

15 to the same effect has been disagreed to) for a motion 

16 to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution, and 

17 all points of order against the joint resolution (and against 

18 consideration of the joint resolution) are waived. The mo19 tion is not subject to amendment, or to a motion to post20 pone, or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of 

21 other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

22 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in 

23 order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration of the 

24 joint resolution is agreed to, the joint resolution shall reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903

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1 main the unfinished business of the Senate until disposed 

2 of. 

3 ‘‘(2) In the Senate, debate on the joint resolution, 

4 and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection 

5 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, which 

6 shall be divided equally between those favoring and those 

7 opposing the joint resolution. A motion to further limit 

8 debate is in order and not debatable. It shall be in order 

9 to consider any amendment that provides for specific con10 ditions on which the approval of a particular rule included 

11 in the joint resolution is contingent. 

12 ‘‘(3) In the Senate, immediately following the conclu13 sion of the debate on a joint resolution described in sub14 section (a), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of 

15 the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the 

16 Senate, the vote on final passage of the joint resolution 

17 shall occur. 

18 ‘‘(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating 

19 to the application of the rules of the Senate to the proce20 dure relating to a joint resolution described in subsection 

21 (a) shall be decided without debate. 

22 ‘‘(e)(1) In the House of Representatives, if the com23 mittee or committees to which a joint resolution described 

24 in subsection (a) has been referred have not reported it 

25 at the end of 15 legislative days after its introduction, 


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1 such committee or committees shall be automatically dis2 charged from further consideration of the resolution and 

3 it shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. A vote on 

4 final passage of the resolution shall be taken on or before 

5 the close of the 15th legislative day after the resolution 

6 is reported by the committee or committees to which it 

7 was referred, or after such committee or committees have 

8 been discharged from further consideration of the resolu9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) A motion in the House of Representatives to 

11 proceed to the consideration of a resolution shall be privi12 leged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion 

13 shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to 

14 reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or 

15 disagreed to. 

16 ‘‘(B) Debate in the House of Representatives on a 

17 resolution shall be limited to not more than two hours, 

18 which shall be divided equally between those favoring and 

19 those opposing the resolution. A motion to further limit 

20 debate shall not be debatable. Amendments to the resolu21 tion shall be in order. No motion to recommit the resolu22 tion shall be in order. It shall be in order to consider any 

23 amendment that provides for specific conditions on which 

24 the approval of a particular rule included in the joint reso25 lution is contingent. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Motions to postpone, made in the House of Rep2 resentatives with respect to the consideration of a resolu3 tion, and motions to proceed to the consideration of other 

4 business, shall be decided without debate. 

5 ‘‘(D) All appeals from the decisions of the Chair re6 lating to the application of the Rules of the House of Rep7 resentatives to the procedure relating to a resolution shall 

8 be decided without debate. 

9 ‘‘(f) If, before the passage by one House of a joint 

10 resolution of that House described in subsection (a), that 

11 House receives from the other House a joint resolution 

12 described in subsection (a), then the following procedures 

13 shall apply with respect to a joint resolution described in 

14 subsection (a) of the House receiving the joint resolu15 tion— 

16 ‘‘(1) the procedure in that House shall be the 

17 same as if no joint resolution had been received from 

18 the other House; but 

19 ‘‘(2) the vote on final passage shall be on the 

20 joint resolution of the other House. 

21 ‘‘(g) This section is enacted by Congress— 

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

23 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec24 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

25 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 


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1 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

2 House in the case of a joint resolution described in 

3 subsection (a), and it supersedes other rules only to 

4 the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

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

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

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

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

9 the case of any other rule of that House. 

10 ‘‘§ 803. Definitions 

11 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter— 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal agency’ means any 

13 agency as that term is defined in section 551(1). 

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘rule’ has the meaning given 

15 such term in section 551, except that such term does 

16 not include— 

17 ‘‘(A) any rule of particular applicability, 

18 including a rule that approves or prescribes for 

19 the future rates, wages, prices, services, or al20 lowances therefore, corporate or financial struc21 tures, reorganizations, mergers, or acquisitions 

22 thereof, or accounting practices or disclosures 

23 bearing on any of the foregoing; 

24 ‘‘(B) any rule relating to agency manage25 ment or personnel; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) any rule of agency organization, pro2 cedure, or practice that does not substantially 

3 affect the rights or obligations of non-agency 

4 parties. 

5 ‘‘§ 804. Judicial review 

6 ‘‘(a) No determination, finding, action, or omission 

7 under this chapter shall be subject to judicial review. 

8 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a court may de9 termine whether a Federal agency has completed the nec10 essary requirements under this chapter for a rule to take 

11 effect. 

12 ‘‘§ 805. Exemption for monetary policy 

13 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall apply to rules that con14 cern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the 

15 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the 

16 Federal Open Market Committee. 

17 ‘‘§ 806. Review of rules currently in effect 

18 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REVIEW.—Beginning on the date that 

19 is 6 months after the date of enactment of this section 

20 and annually thereafter for the 9 years following, each 

21 agency shall designate not less than 10 percent of eligible 

22 rules made by that agency for review, and shall submit 

23 a report including each such eligible rule in the same man24 ner as a report under section 801(a)(1). Section 801 and 

25 section 802 shall apply to each such rule, subject to subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903

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1 section (c) of this section. No eligible rule previously des2 ignated may be designated again. 

3 ‘‘(b) SUNSET FOR ELIGIBLE RULES NOT EX4 TENDED.—Beginning after the date that is 10 years after 

5 the date of enactment of this section, if Congress has not 

6 enacted a joint resolution of approval for that eligible rule, 

7 that eligible rule shall not continue in effect. 

8 ‘‘(c) CONSOLIDATION; SEVERABILITY.—In applying 

9 sections 801 and 802 to eligible rules under this section, 

10 the following shall apply: 

11 ‘‘(1) The words ‘take effect’ shall be read as 

12 ‘continue in effect’. 

13 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a 

14 single joint resolution of approval shall apply to all 

15 eligible rules in a report designated for a year, and 

16 the matter after the resolving clause of that joint 

17 resolution is as follows: ‘That Congress approves the 

18 rules submitted by the ll for the year ll.’ (The 

19 blank spaces being appropriately filled in). 

20 ‘‘(3) It shall be in order to consider any amend21 ment that provides for specific conditions on which 

22 the approval of a particular eligible rule included in 

23 the joint resolution is contingent. 


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1 ‘‘(4) A member of either House may move that 

2 a separate joint resolution be required for a specified 

3 rule. 

4 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 

5 rule’ means a rule that is in effect as of the date of enact6 ment of this section. 

7 ‘‘§ 807. Sunset for rules 

8 ‘‘(a) EXPIRATION OF RULE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this 

10 section, each rule made by an agency shall cease to 

11 have effect— 

12 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date that is 10 

13 years after the date of enactment of a joint res14 olution of approval with regard to the rule; or 

15 ‘‘(B) if a joint resolution of extension de16 scribed in subsection (d) has been enacted with 

17 regard to the rule, beginning on the date that 

18 is 10 years after the date of enactment of the 

19 most recently enacted such joint resolution. 

20 ‘‘(2) REISSUANCE OF THE RULE PROHIB21 ITED.—The rule may not be reissued in substan22 tially the same form, and a new rule that is substan23 tially the same as such a rule may not be issued, un24 less the reissued or new rule is specifically authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903

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1 ized by a law enacted after the date described in this 

2 subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(b) REPORT BY AGENCY.—Not later than 180 days 

4 before the date described in subsection (a), the agency 

5 shall submit a report similar to the report described in 

6 801(a)(1)(A) to each House of Congress and to the Comp7 troller General, except that instead of the proposed effec8 tive date, such report shall contain the date described in 

9 subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(c) EXEMPTION BY PRESIDENT.—The President 

11 may by Executive order exempt a rule from the application 

12 of subsection (a) for a period of not more than 10 years 

13 if the President determines, and submits to Congress writ14 ten notice of such determination, that such rule is— 

15 ‘‘(1) necessary because of an imminent threat 

16 to health or safety or other emergency; 

17 ‘‘(2) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 

18 laws; 

19 ‘‘(3) necessary for national security; or 

20 ‘‘(4) issued pursuant to any statute imple21 menting an international trade agreement. 

22 ‘‘(d) JOINT RESOLUTION OF EXTENSION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) JOINT RESOLUTION DESCRIBED.—For 

24 purposes of this section, the term ‘joint resolution’ 

25 means only a joint resolution introduced on or after 


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1 the date on which the report referred to subsection 

2 (b) is received by Congress (excluding days either 

3 House of Congress is adjourned for more than 3 

4 days during a session of Congress), the matter after 

5 the resolving clause of which is as follows: ‘That 

6 Congress extends the rule submitted by the l l 

7 relating to l l.’ (The blank spaces being appro8 priately filled in). The following shall apply to such 

9 a joint resolution: 

10 ‘‘(A) In the House, the majority leader of 

11 the House of Representatives (or his designee) 

12 and the minority leader of the House of Rep13 resentatives (or his designee) shall introduce 

14 such joint resolution (by request), within 3 leg15 islative days after Congress receives the report 

16 submitted under subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(B) In the Senate, the majority leader of 

18 the Senate (or his designee) and the minority 

19 leader of the Senate (or his designee) shall in20 troduce such joint resolution described in sub21 section (a) (by request), within 3 session days 

22 after Congress receives the report submitted 

23 under subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF JOINT RESOLUTION.— 

25 Subsections (b) through (g) of section 802 shall 


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1 apply to a joint resolution described in paragraph 

2 (1) of this subsection in the same manner as a joint 

3 resolution described in subsection (a) of section 802, 

4 except that for purposes of that subsection, the term 

5 ‘submission date’ means the date on which the Con6 gress receives the report submitted under subsection 

7 (b).’’. 

Æ 


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