HRES 11119th CongressIn Committee

Fair Representation Amendment

Introduced: Jan 3, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

Fair Representation Amendment is a House Resolution that would require 16 authorizing committees to review all laws within their jurisdiction and propose changes within six months aimed at eliminating excessive discretion by the Executive Branch in how those laws are applied. After the committees submit their recommendations, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform would “expeditiously” report legislation to carry out all of those recommendations without substantive revision. The resulting legislation would be titled the Article One Restoration Act. In short, the bill seeks to reassert congressional control over federal law administration by curbing agency interpretive discretion and packaging the changes into a single follow-on bill. The resolution is a procedural directive, not a stand-alone law. If implemented, it could trigger broad changes across many federal programs and agencies, depending on the recommendations produced by each committee and the subsequent legislation pushed by the Oversight Committee.

Key Points

1Time-limited mandate: Committees must review laws within their jurisdiction and submit recommendations within 6 months of adoption to reduce executive discretion.
2Broad committee scope: 16 committees are identified as responsible for reviewing laws, covering agriculture, defense, budget, energy and commerce, education and the workforce, financial services, foreign affairs, judiciary, natural resources, oversight, science/space/tech, small business, transportation/infrastructure, veterans affairs, Ways and Means, and intelligence.
3Purpose: The goal is to eliminate excessive Executive Branch discretion in how laws are applied by agencies and officials.
4Legislative path: After collecting all recommendations, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform must expeditiously report legislation carrying out those recommendations without substantive revision.
5Final enacted form: The legislation reported by OGR would bear the short title “Article One Restoration Act.”

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Federal agencies and the administration: Agencies would face changes to how laws are interpreted and implemented, potentially reducing discretionary enforcement or interpretation in favor of more prescriptive or narrowly tailored requirements.Secondary group/area affected- Congress and oversight processes: The resolution reaffirms and expands congressional power to shape how laws are administered, potentially altering the balance between Congress and the Executive Branch.- Businesses, nonprofits, and individuals under federal programs: Depending on the recommendations, there could be more rigid rules, clearer standards, or reduced agency flexibility in applying complex statutes.Additional impacts- Legal and constitutional considerations: The plan hinges on reducing agency discretion, which touches on the delegation doctrine, administrative law, and how regulations are issued and enforced. The vague standard of “excessive discretion” could raise debates over definition and measurement.- Implementation risk and speed: A six-month deadline to review and propose changes across a wide array of statutes may be challenging, and the subsequent “no substantive revision” requirement could limit the refinements typically added during bill drafting.- Partisan and policy implications: Because the proposal aims to constrain executive administration across many policy areas, it could have broad partisan implications and affect how quickly the government can adapt to emerging issues.

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