To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for en bloc consideration in resolutions of disapproval for midnight rules, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Midnight Rules Relief Act amends chapter 8 of title 5, the Congressional Review Act. For rules whose agency reports were submitted during the final year of a President's term, a joint resolution of disapproval may contain one or more such rules instead of only one. The bill also updates the required resolution text so Congress can list multiple rules after the resolving clause and state that the listed rules have no force or effect.
Who Benefits and How
Members of Congress seeking to overturn midnight rules, incoming presidential administrations, congressional oversight committees, regulated businesses challenging late-term rules, and trade associations affected by late-term regulation benefit because one CRA resolution can disapprove multiple final-year rules, reducing procedural friction and floor-time constraints.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Executive branch agencies, outgoing administration rulemaking teams, regulatory beneficiaries, advocacy groups defending late-term rules, and Office of the Federal Register staff bear burdens because more rules can be bundled for disapproval and lose force or effect through a single joint resolution.
Key Provisions
- Amends the Congressional Review Act to allow en bloc joint resolutions for final-year presidential rules.
- Authorizes a single joint resolution of disapproval to contain one or more covered midnight rules.
- Requires resolution text listing each rule submitted by an agency and its subject.
- Provides that all listed disapproved rules have no force or effect.
- Changes congressional procedure rather than directly repealing a named regulation.
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
Amends the Congressional Review Act so a joint resolution of disapproval may package one or more rules submitted during the final year of a President's term, allowing Congress to disapprove multiple midnight rules en bloc.
Key Policy Areas
Regulatory Reform, Congressional Procedure, Administrative Law
Primary Purpose
Amends the Congressional Review Act so a joint resolution of disapproval may package one or more rules submitted during the final year of a President's term, allowing Congress to disapprove multiple midnight rules en bloc.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Members of Congress seeking to overturn midnight rules
- Incoming presidential administrations
- Congressional oversight committees
- Regulated businesses challenging late-term rules
- Trade associations affected by late-term regulation
Identified Costs
- Executive branch agencies
- Outgoing administration rulemaking teams
- Regulatory beneficiaries
- Advocacy groups defending late-term rules
- Office of the Federal Register staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Mr. Biggs of Arizona (for himself, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Grothman, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Executive branch agencies, Incoming presidential administrations, Members of Congress seeking to overturn midnight rules
Positive-direction: Incoming presidential administrations, Members of Congress seeking to overturn midnight rules
Negative-direction: Executive branch agencies, Outgoing administration rulemaking teams
Regulated businesses challenging late-term rules
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "cra"
- → Congressional Review Act
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