[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4692 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4692
To require agency officials to communicate with and testify before
Congress regarding certain agency actions, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 11 (legislative day, July 10), 2024
Mr. Cassidy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require agency officials to communicate with and testify before
Congress regarding certain agency actions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Upholding Standards of
Accountability Act of 2024'' or the ``USA Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. TESTIMONY REGARDING MAJOR RULES.
Section 801(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(6) Agency testimony.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), not later than 30 days after the
publication of a final major rule in the Federal
Register, the officer of the Federal agency signing
such major rule shall testify about the rule before
each standing committee of Congress with jurisdiction
under the rules of the House of Representatives or the
Senate to report a bill to amend the provision of law
under which the rule is issued.
``(B) Waiver.--
``(i) In general.--The chair of a committee
may waive the requirements of subparagraph (A)
on a case-by-case basis with respect to such
committee.
``(ii) Written determination.--If the chair
waives such requirements, the chair must issue
a written determination that such testimony is
unnecessary and would not be beneficial to
Congress in carrying out its legislative
function.
``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to impact the appearance
of other Federal officials at committee hearings at
other times and for purposes other than the times and
purposes described in subparagraph (A).''.
SEC. 3. TESTIMONY FOR SENATE-CONFIRMED NOMINEES.
(a) In General.--Subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SECTION 3349F. NOMINEE TESTIMONY.
``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), each
person nominated to a position that requires the advice and consent of
the Senate shall testify in a hearing before the committee of the
Senate with jurisdiction under the rules of the Senate over such
nomination. Such hearing shall be held before the nomination may be
confirmed by the Senate.
``(b) Waiver.--
``(1) In general.--The chair of a committee may waive the
requirements of subsection (a) on a case-by-case basis with
respect to such committee.
``(2) Written determination.--If the chair waives such
requirements, the chair shall issue a written determination
that such testimony is unnecessary and would not be beneficial
to Congress in carrying out its legislative function.
``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to impact the appearance of other Federal officials at
committee hearings at times and for purposes other than the times and
purposes described in subsection (a).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter III
of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 3349e the following:
``3349f. Nominee testimony.''.
SEC. 4. RETROSPECTIVE COST-BENEFIT REVIEW.
Section 801(a) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by
section 2, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(7) Retrospective report.--
``(A) Agency report.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 5
calendar years after the effective date of a
major rule, the Federal agency that promulgated
the major rule shall submit to each House of
Congress, the Comptroller General, and the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
and publish on the website of the Federal
agency a report containing a retrospective
analysis of the rule based on the report
submitted under paragraph (1)(B).
``(ii) Contents of report.--The report
submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include,
at minimum--
``(I) an updated cost-benefit
analysis of the rule, describing the
actual costs and benefits of the rule
in quantified and monetized terms when
possible, and otherwise in qualitative
terms;
``(II) an explanation of any
material differences between the
initial cost-benefit analysis and the
updated cost-benefit analysis of the
rule;
``(III) recommendations for changes
to the rule, if any, based on the
actual costs and benefits of the rule
since the effective date;
``(IV) an updated regulatory
flexibility analysis of the rule,
describing the actual significant
economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities, if any; and
``(V) an updated analysis of the
actual costs resulting from the rule
imposing Federal mandates upon State,
local, and Tribal governments and the
private sector, if any.
``(B) OIRA report.--Not later than 60 days after
the end of each fiscal year, the Administrator of the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shall
submit to each House of Congress and to the Comptroller
General a report containing--
``(i) a summary of all reports submitted
pursuant to subparagraph (A) during the
previous fiscal year; and
``(ii) a quantitative and qualitative
analysis of the reports, which shall include,
at minimum--
``(I) recommendations to improve
future cost-benefit analyses conducted
by Federal agencies promulgating such
rules;
``(II) recommendations to improve
future economic or regulatory impact
analyses conducted by Federal agencies
promulgating such rules;
``(III) any other recommendations
for agencies for future rulemakings
based on the analysis of the reports
compiled pursuant to clause (i).
``(C) Interim analysis.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 2
calendar years after the date of enactment of
this Act, each Federal agency shall submit to
each House of Congress, the Comptroller
General, and the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs and publish on the website
of the agency a report containing a
retrospective analysis of the cost-benefit
analyses supporting recent major rules.
``(ii) Contents of report.--The report
submitted under clause (i) shall--
``(I) contain a quantitative and
qualitative analysis of that agency's
rulemaking analyses, including plans
for prospectively improving such
analyses based on differences between
past analyses and the real-world impact
of the applicable rules; and
``(II) address the greater of--
``(aa) the most recent 20
major rules promulgated; or
``(bb) all major rules
promulgated during the previous
5 calendar years.
``(D) Effective date.--The requirements under
subparagraph (A) shall apply to all major rules
promulgated on or after the date of enactment of the
Upholding Standards of Accountability Act of 2024. The
requirements under subparagraph (B) shall apply to the
first fiscal year in which reports were submitted
pursuant to subparagraph (A).''.
SEC. 5. INFORMAL RULEMAKING.
Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an
agency from communicating with members of Congress regarding a proposed
rule outside of the comment period provided in subsection (c) and no
such communication shall be held to be unlawful under section 706.''.
SEC. 6. WRITTEN RESPONSE.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Letter.--The term ``letter'' means written
correspondence signed by--
(A) the chair or ranking member of any committee of
the House of Representatives or the Senate, not to
include subcommittees, pertaining to a matter under the
jurisdiction of such committee under the rules of the
House of Representatives or the Senate;
(B) at least 7 members of any committee of the
House of Representatives, not to include subcommittees,
including at least 3 members of a different political
party than the majority of signing members, pertaining
to a matter under the jurisdiction of such committee
under the rules of the House of Representatives; or
(C) at least 5 members of any committee of the
Senate, not to include subcommittees, including at
least 2 members of a different political party than the
majority of signing members, pertaining to a matter
under the jurisdiction of such committee under the
rules of the Senate.
(2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means any agency as that
term is defined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Agency officer.--The term ``agency officer'' means any
officer of the United States employed by an agency.
(b) Response by Agency.--Not later than 30 days after the date on
which a letter is sent to an agency officer, the agency shall provide a
substantive response to the letter in writing.
(c) Failure To Respond.--
(1) In general.--If the agency fails to provide a
substantive response to the letter on or before the date that
is 60 days after the letter is sent, unless the authors of such
letter approve in writing an extension of the response
deadline, the agency officer to whom the letter is addressed
shall appear and testify before the committee of the chair or
ranking member who sent the letter pursuant to subsection
(a)(1)(A) or the committee of members who sent the letter
pursuant to subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1).
(2) Penalties.--In the case of a letter that was sent from
both the chair or ranking member of a Senate committee and the
chair or ranking member of a House committee, if the agency
fails to respond to the letter on or before the date that is 90
days after the letter was sent, the annual rate of basic pay
for the agency officer to whom the letter was addressed shall
be $1 during the period--
(A) beginning on the first day of the first
applicable pay period beginning after such date; and
(B) ending on the day before the first day of the
first applicable pay period beginning after the date on
which the agency responds to the letter.
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