H.R. 6971 — ___ Act of 2025

This section establishes congressional review procedures for executive orders (EOs). Before an EO may take effect, the President must publish supporting information (i.e., data, studies, cost-benefit analyses) in the Federal Register with online access details and submit a report to Congress and the Comptroller General containing the EO text, a general statement, a major or nonmajor classification with criteria explanation, related executive actions and their economic effects, and proposed effective date; congressional committees of jurisdiction receive copies of the report. Nonmajor EOs take effect after report submission. Major EOs require enactment of a joint resolution of approval within 70 session or legislative days (excluding adjournments over three days) of report receipt, or they are deemed not approved and do not take effect; no further approval resolution may be considered in that Congress. The President may allow a major EO to take effect for one 90-calendar-day period via determination of imminent health/safety threat or emergency, criminal law enforcement necessity, national security, or trade agreement implementation (with no effect on approval procedures). For EOs with reports submitted within 60 session/legislative days before session adjournment, additional review applies in the next session as if published 15 session/legislative days after convening.

This section establishes a fast-track procedure for joint resolutions approving major Executive Orders designated under section 2(a)(1). The joint resolution must use prescribed language (approving the specified Executive Order), be introduced by the majority leader of each house within 3 legislative or session days of receiving the designation report, and is not amendable. It requires referral to jurisdictional committees and provides for automatic discharge after 15 session days (Senate) or 15 legislative days (House) if not reported. In the Senate, it allows a non-debatable motion to proceed with 2 hours of debate divided equally, followed by a vote on passage (with a single quorum call if requested); appeals are decided without debate. In the House, on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month (after 5 legislative days on the calendar), the Speaker may recognize a member for 1 hour of debate equally divided, with a vote required by the third such Thursday if not taken earlier. If one house receives an identical joint resolution from the other before passage, it bypasses committee and supplants the receiving house's version upon final vote.

This section revises the Congressional Review Act (CRA, 5 U.S.C. Chapter 8)—which currently enables Congress to disapprove agency rules via joint resolution within 60 session/legislative days of submission—by replacing it with a new chapter that (1) requires agencies to submit detailed reports to Congress and the Comptroller General on all rules, including the rule text, classification as major or nonmajor with criteria-specific explanations, cost-benefit analyses with jobs impacts, related regulatory actions and their effects, Regulatory Flexibility Act and Unfunded Mandates Reform Act compliance, and a Federal Register notice with online access to supporting data and studies; (2) mandates congressional approval via joint resolution under new §802 for major rules to take effect, with a 70-session/legislative-day review period (from 60 days) after which unapproved major rules do not take effect and no further approval may be considered in the same Congress; (3) permits nonmajor rules to take effect under new §803's disapproval procedure following submission; (4) directs the Comptroller General to report on major rules within 15 calendar days, assessing agency compliance and private-sector mandates; and (5) authorizes the President to allow a major rule to take effect for 90 calendar days via Executive order for emergencies (e.g., health/safety threats, criminal law enforcement, national security, or trade agreements), without altering the approval process. The section also extends review of late-session rules into the next Congress (60 session/legislative days prior to adjournment) and requires agency cooperation with the Comptroller General. (Thus, major rules now require affirmative congressional approval rather than merely surviving a disapproval window.)

This section adds to the baseline assumptions for direct spending and receipts under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 a requirement to assume effective any rule subject to the congressional review process of 5 U.S.C. §802 (i.e., Congressional Review Act) that affects budget authority, outlays, or receipts, unless disapproved by Congress. (Thus, for CBO baseline projections used in budget enforcement such as PAYGO, the budgetary effects of such rules are included by default.)

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study, as of the date of enactment, determining (1) the number of rules in effect, (2) the number of major rules in effect, and (3) the total estimated economic cost imposed by all such rules, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 804. The Comptroller General must submit a report to Congress containing the study's findings not later than one year after enactment.