H.R. 142 — Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2025

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2025.”

This section states the purpose of the Act, which is to increase accountability for and transparency in the Federal regulatory process by requiring a vote in Congress before certain regulations take effect.

This section revises the Congressional Review Act by replacing chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, and expanding the information agencies must submit to Congress and the Comptroller General before a rule may take effect. It requires agencies to publish, in the Federal Register, the data, scientific and economic studies, and cost-benefit analyses underlying a rule and to identify how the public may access that information online; submit a report containing a copy of the rule, a concise general statement, a major-or-nonmajor classification with an explanation addressing each major-rule criterion under section 804(2)(A) through (C), a list of related regulatory actions and their individual and aggregate economic effects, and the proposed effective date; and provide a complete cost-benefit analysis, including jobs added or lost in the public and private sectors, along with information on compliance with specified rulemaking and unfunded mandates requirements and other relevant statutory or executive-order requirements. It also requires the Comptroller General to report on each major rule within 15 calendar days after submission or publication, including whether the agency complied with the required procedures and whether the rule imposes new limits or mandates on private-sector activity, and requires agencies to cooperate with that review. This section also changes the timing and approval process for major and nonmajor rules. A major rule may not take effect unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval, and if Congress does not enact such a resolution within 70 session days or legislative days after receipt of the report, the rule is deemed not approved and does not take effect. A major rule may take effect for one 90-calendar-day period if the President determines by executive order that the rule is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for criminal law enforcement, for national security, or because it is issued under a statute implementing an international trade agreement. A nonmajor rule takes effect under section 803 after submission to Congress. The section also provides for additional review in the next session of Congress for rules submitted during the final 60 session days in the Senate or 60 legislative days in the House before adjournment, and it applies the review procedures in the succeeding session as though the rule had been published on the 15th session day in the Senate or the 15th legislative day in the House, as applicable.

This section revises the baseline assumptions under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 by requiring that any rule subject to the congressional approval procedure in section 802 of title 5, United States Code, be assumed effective for budget scoring purposes if it affects budget authority, outlays, or receipts, unless the rule is not approved under that procedure. (Thus, rules submitted to Congress under the Congressional Review Act are counted in the baseline unless Congress disapproves them.)

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study, as of the date of enactment, of how many rules and major rules were in effect under 5 U.S.C. § 804 and the total estimated economic cost imposed by all such rules. It also requires the Comptroller General to submit a report to Congress with the study’s findings not later than 1 year after enactment.