[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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