S 164119th CongressIn Committee

Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2025

Introduced: Jan 21, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2025 would amend the Congressional Review Act to make it easier for Congress to block late-term federal regulations, commonly referred to as “midnight rules.” Specifically, it would allow en bloc disapproval—one joint resolution of disapproval—to target multiple such rules at once, provided the agency reports for each rule were submitted during the final year of the President’s term. In other words, if several rules were issued and reported late in a President’s term, Congress could disapprove all of them in a single joint resolution rather than filing separate disapproval measures for each rule. To enable this, the bill adds a new provision to section 801(d) and rewrites the resolving clause in section 802 to support en bloc disapprovals. The resolving clause would take a standardized form listing the rules being disapproved and stating they have no force or effect. The sponsors named in the bill include Senators Johnson (primary) and several co-sponsors.

Key Points

1En bloc mechanism: Adds a new subsection to 5 U.S.C. 801(d) allowing a single joint resolution of disapproval to cover multiple midnight rules.
2Eligibility window: The rules must have had their reporting submitted during the final year of the President’s term to qualify for en bloc disapproval.
3Textual template: Adjusts the resolving clause in 5 U.S.C. 802 to provide a standardized statement that Congress disapproves the listed rules and that they have no force or effect.
4Scope of rules: Applies to rules described under section 801(d)(1) (the rules subject to congressional review) that fall under the midnight-rule timing criterion.
5Interaction with existing law: Maintains the basic Congressional Review Act framework (including potential presidential veto and congressional override) but streamlines the disapproval process for late-term rules.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Congress and the President: Provides Congress with a streamlined, one-step method to disapprove multiple late-term rules; preserves veto and override possibilities.- Federal agencies and the White House (OMB and rulemaking actors): Could alter timing considerations and how late-term rules are prepared and submitted, knowing they may be subject to en bloc disapproval.Secondary group/area affected- Regulated industries, businesses, and public-interest stakeholders: Potentially benefits from quicker blocking of late-term regulations; may face increased regulatory uncertainty if agencies alter late-term rulemaking strategies.Additional impacts- Constitutional and procedural considerations: Relies on the Congressional Review Act framework, which has its own historical debates about Congress’s power to disapprove agency actions; en bloc disapproval could raise questions about sequencing and procedural efficiency, but would still require standard legislative processes (including potential veto overrides).- Administrative timing and behavior: May incentivize agencies to adjust when proposed rules are submitted to avoid being captured by the “final year” window if disapproval is a concern.

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