Safeguarding US Rulemaking Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Safeguarding US Rulemaking Act amends section 553 of title 5, the Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking section, to create a new exclusion from notice-and-comment participation. A foreign government determined by the Secretary of Commerce to be a foreign adversary under 15 C.F.R. 791.4(a), along with nationals of that government and entities incorporated in that government, would be ineligible to participate in agency rulemakings or petition agencies under section 553. The bill narrows the public-comment and petition rights that normally apply after an agency issues notice of a proposed rule.
Who Benefits and How
Federal agencies and U.S. commenters benefit from a rulemaking process less open to direct participation by Commerce-designated foreign adversaries. National-security officials benefit because the bill ties the exclusion to an existing Commerce foreign-adversary designation rather than requiring every agency to make its own geopolitical determination.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Foreign-adversary governments, their nationals, and entities incorporated in those governments bear the direct burden because they lose the ability to submit APA rulemaking comments or petitions under section 553. Federal agency docket managers and rulemaking staff must screen comments and petitions for covered foreign-adversary status and may need procedures for rejecting or excluding ineligible submissions.
Key Provisions
- Amends Administrative Procedure Act section 553 to create a foreign-adversary exclusion from rulemaking participation and agency petitions.
- Applies the exclusion to foreign governments designated by Commerce under 15 C.F.R. 791.4(a), their nationals, and entities incorporated there.
- Requires federal agencies to administer rulemaking dockets without accepting covered foreign-adversary comments or petitions.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Bars foreign-adversary governments, nationals, and incorporated entities from submitting rulemaking comments or petitions under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Key Policy Areas
Government Operations, National Security, Administrative Law
Primary Purpose
Bars foreign-adversary governments, nationals, and incorporated entities from submitting rulemaking comments or petitions under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal agencies
- U.S. commenters
- National-security officials
Identified Costs
- Foreign-adversary governments
- Foreign-adversary nationals
- Federal agency docket managers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Moore of Alabama (for himself, Mr. Palmer, Ms. Stefanik, …
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Foreign-adversary entities, Foreign-adversary governments
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Secretary of Commerce"
- → Official whose foreign-adversary determinations under 15 C.F.R. 791.4(a) trigger the exclusion
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology