REPUBLIC Act
Bill: S.463 | Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand (R-KY)
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
Reforming Emergency Powers to Uphold the Balances and Limitations Inherent in the Constitution Act or the REPUBLIC Act
This bill terminates a declaration of national emergency made by the President after 72 hours unless Congress enacts a joint resolution to renew the declaration. It also bars subsequent presidential declarations of emergency during the remainder of a presidential term of office based on the same circumstances if Congress does not enact a resolution of approval.
Under the bill, an emergency declaration that is approved by Congress expires 90 days after the issuance of the presidential declaration of emergency unless renewed.
The bill exempts presidential powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) from the requirements of this bill.
The bill also (1) repeals presidential authority to unilaterally control communications, including the internet, cell phone service, and television and radio broadcasts; and (2) terminates all existing national emergency declarations that do not specify IEEPA as the source of presidential authority.

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

    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 ``Reforming Emergency Powers to Uphold 
the Balances and Limitations Inherent in the Constitution Act'' or the 
``REPUBLIC Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 201 of the National Emergencies Act (50 
U.S.C. 1621) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 201. DECLARATION AND CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF NATIONAL 
              EMERGENCIES.

    ``(a) In General.--With respect to Acts of Congress authorizing the 
exercise, during the period of a national emergency, of any special or 
extraordinary power, the President is authorized to declare such 
national emergency. Such proclamation shall immediately be transmitted 
to Congress and published in the Federal Register.
    ``(b) Specification of Powers and Authorities.--The President shall 
specify, in the proclamation declaring a national emergency under 
subsection (a) or in one or more contemporaneous or subsequent 
Executive orders published in the Federal Register and transmitted to 
Congress, the provisions of law made available for use in the event of 
an emergency pursuant to which the President proposes that the 
President, or another official, will exercise emergency powers or 
authorities.
    ``(c) Termination After 72 Hours Unless Approved by Congress.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        national emergency declared under subsection (a), and the 
        exercise of emergency powers and authorities pursuant to 
        provisions of law described in subsection (b), shall terminate 
        at the time specified in paragraph (3).
            ``(2) Approval by congress required.--A national emergency 
        declared under subsection (a), and the exercise of any 
        emergency power or authority pursuant to a provision of law 
        described in subsection (b), may continue after the time 
        specified in paragraph (3) only if, before that time, there is 
        enacted into law a joint resolution of approval pursuant to 
        subsection (f) approving--
                    ``(A) the declaration of the emergency; and
                    ``(B) the exercise of that power or authority.
            ``(3) Time specified.--The time specified in this paragraph 
        is--
                    ``(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 72 
                hours after the President declares the national 
                emergency; or
                    ``(B) if Congress is unable to convene during the 
                72-hour period described in subparagraph (A), 72 hours 
                after Congress first convenes after the declaration of 
                the emergency.
    ``(d) Termination After 90 Days Unless Renewed With Congressional 
Approval.--A national emergency declared under subsection (a) with 
respect to which a joint resolution of approval is enacted under 
subsection (f), and the exercise of any emergency power or authority 
pursuant to that emergency, shall terminate on the date that is 90 days 
after the President declares the emergency (or the emergency was 
previously renewed under this subsection), unless, before the 
termination of the emergency--
            ``(1) the President publishes in the Federal Register and 
        transmits to Congress an Executive order--
                    ``(A) renewing the emergency; and
                    ``(B) specifying the provisions of law made 
                available for use in the event of an emergency pursuant 
                to which the President proposes that the President, or 
                another official, will exercise emergency powers or 
                authorities; and
            ``(2) there is enacted a joint resolution of approval with 
        respect to--
                    ``(A) the renewal of the emergency; and
                    ``(B) the exercise of that power or authority.
    ``(e) Prohibition on Subsequent Actions if Emergencies Not 
Approved.--
            ``(1) Subsequent declarations.--If a joint resolution of 
        approval is not enacted pursuant to subsection (f) with respect 
        to a national emergency declared under subsection (a) or 
        proposed to be renewed under subsection (d), the President may 
        not, during the remainder of the term of office of that 
        President, declare a subsequent national emergency under 
        subsection (a) with respect to the same circumstances.
            ``(2) Exercise of authorities.--If a joint resolution of 
        approval is not enacted pursuant to subsection (f) with respect 
        to a power or authority proposed by the President under 
        subsection (b) to be exercised with respect to a national 
        emergency, the President may not, during the remainder of the 
        term of office of that President, exercise that power or 
        authority with respect to that emergency.
    ``(f) Joint Resolutions of Approval.--
            ``(1) Joint resolution of approval defined.--For purposes 
        of this section, the term `joint resolution of approval' means 
        a joint resolution that contains after its resolving clause--
                    ``(A) a provision approving--
                            ``(i) a proclamation of a national 
                        emergency made under subsection (a);
                            ``(ii) an Executive order issued under 
                        subsection (b) specifying the provisions of law 
                        pursuant to which the President proposes to 
                        exercise emergency powers or authorities; or
                            ``(iii) an Executive order issued under 
                        subsection (d) renewing a national emergency; 
                        and
                    ``(B) a provision approving a list of all or some 
                of the provisions of law specified by the President 
                under subsection (b) and included in the proclamation 
                or Executive order, as the case may be.
            ``(2) Introduction.--After the President transmits to 
        Congress a proclamation described in clause (i) of paragraph 
        (1)(A) or an Executive order described in clause (ii) or (iii) 
        of that paragraph, a joint resolution of approval may be 
        introduced in either House of Congress by any Member of that 
        House.
            ``(3) Committee referral.--A joint resolution of approval 
        shall be referred in each House of Congress to the committee or 
        committees having jurisdiction over the emergency powers and 
        authorities invoked by the proclamation or Executive order that 
        is the subject of the joint resolution.
            ``(4) Consideration in senate.--
                    ``(A) Reporting and discharge.--If the committee to 
                which a joint resolution of approval has been referred 
                has not reported it at the end of 2 calendar days after 
                its introduction, that committee shall be automatically 
                discharged from further consideration of the resolution 
                and it shall be placed on the calendar.
                    ``(B) Proceeding to consideration.--Notwithstanding 
                Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, when the 
                committee to which a joint resolution of approval is 
                referred has reported the resolution, or when that 
                committee is discharged under subparagraph (A) from 
                further consideration of the resolution, it is at any 
                time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion 
                to the same effect has been disagreed to) for a motion 
                to proceed to the consideration of the joint 
                resolution, and all points of order against the joint 
                resolution (and against consideration of the joint 
                resolution) are waived. The motion to proceed is not 
                debatable. The motion is not subject to amendment, or 
                to a motion to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to 
                the consideration of other business.
                    ``(C) Amendments.--No amendments shall be in order 
                with respect to a joint resolution of approval, except 
                for amendments that strike provisions from the list of 
                provisions of law required by paragraph (1)(B) or 
                otherwise narrow the scope of emergency powers and 
                authorities authorized to be exercised pursuant to such 
                provisions of law.
                    ``(D) Motion to reconsider final vote.--A motion to 
                reconsider a vote on final passage of a joint 
                resolution of approval shall not be in order.
                    ``(E) Appeals.--Points of order, including 
                questions of relevancy, and appeals from the decision 
                of the Presiding Officer, shall be decided without 
                debate.
            ``(5) Consideration in house of representatives.--In the 
        House of Representatives, if any committee to which a joint 
        resolution of approval has been referred has not reported it to 
        the House at the end of 2 calendar days after its introduction, 
        that committee shall be discharged from further consideration 
        of the joint resolution, and the resolution shall be placed on 
        the appropriate calendar. It shall be in order at any time for 
        the Speaker to recognize a Member who favors passage of a joint 
        resolution to call up that joint resolution for immediate 
        consideration in the House without intervention of any point of 
        order. When so called up a joint resolution shall be considered 
        as read and shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and 
        controlled by the proponent and an opponent. It shall not be in 
        order to reconsider the vote on passage.
            ``(6) Receipt of resolution from other house.--If, before 
        passing a joint resolution of approval, one House receives a 
        joint resolution of approval from the other House, then--
                    ``(A) the joint resolution of the other House shall 
                not be referred to a committee and shall be deemed to 
                have been discharged from committee on the day it is 
                received; and
                    ``(B) the procedures set forth in paragraph (4) or 
                (5), as applicable, shall apply in the receiving House 
                to the joint resolution received from the other House 
                to the same extent as such procedures apply to a joint 
                resolution of the receiving House.
    ``(g) Effect of Later-Enacted Laws.--No law enacted after the date 
of the enactment of this Act shall supersede this title unless it does 
so in specific terms, referring to this title, and declaring that the 
new law supersedes the provisions of this title.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 
1601 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 202--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
                        by striking ``declared by the President in 
                        accordance with this title'' and inserting ``in 
                        effect under section 201''; and
                            (ii) in the flush text, by striking 
                        ``declared by the President'' and inserting 
                        ``in effect under section 201'';
                    (B) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (5); 
                and
                    (C) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Subsection (b) and section 201(f) are enacted by Congress--
            ``(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate 
        and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such 
        they are deemed a part of the rules of each House, 
        respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure 
        to be followed in the House in the case of resolutions 
        described by this title, and they supersede other rules only to 
        the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
            ``(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the 
        procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and 
        to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that 
        House.''; and
            (2) by striking title III.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EMERGENCY AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
              RULES AND REGULATIONS.

    Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 606) is 
amended by striking subsection (c).

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    Except as provided in section 6(a), the amendments made by this Act 
shall apply with respect to national emergencies declared under section 
201 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF EXISTING EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS.

    Each national emergency declared under section 201 of the National 
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) before the date of the enactment of 
this Act (other than a national emergency described in section 6(b)) 
shall terminate on such date of enactment.

SEC. 6. NONAPPLICABILITY WITH RESPECT TO INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY 
              ECONOMIC POWERS ACT.

    (a) In General.--In the case of a national emergency declared on or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act under which the President 
proposes to exercise emergency powers and authorities pursuant to the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)--
            (1) the amendments made by this Act shall not apply; and
            (2) the provisions of the National Emergencies Act, as in 
        effect on the day before such date of enactment, shall apply.
    (b) Continuation in Effect of National Emergency Declarations.--A 
national emergency declared before the date of the enactment of this 
Act under which the President exercises emergency powers and 
authorities pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) shall--
            (1) continue in effect on and after such date of enactment; 
        and
            (2) terminate in accordance with the provisions of the 
        National Emergencies Act, as in effect on the day before such 
        date of enactment.
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