Sponsor
Clay Higgins
Representative · R-LA
Representative · R-LA
The bill aims to make rulemaking dockets more manageable and transparent by giving agencies tools and mandates to detect, label, and study mass or automated comments—improving administrative quality—at the cost of new implementation expenses and potential barriers or filtering that could reduce or misrepresent broad public participation.
Federal agencies, rulemaking platforms (e.g., Regulations.gov), and the public: agencies get clearer authority, OMB guidance, and technical updates to detect and manage large volumes of mass or computer-generated comments, improving docket quality and administrative efficiency.
Members of the public and lawmakers: agencies will identify and label mass or automated comment submissions, increasing transparency about when many submissions are identical or generated programmatically.
Ordinary Americans and advocacy groups: the bill affirms that mass comment campaigns are 'vital,' protecting broad public participation in rulemaking from being treated as inherently illegitimate.
Individuals and small organizations (e.g., neighborhood groups, small nonprofits): added verification, labeling, or technical barriers could discourage or block participation and reduce the volume of public input from less-resourced commenters.
Taxpayers and federal budgets: agencies will face implementation costs to update websites, eRulemaking systems, and develop new policies and procedures, which could increase spending or divert staff time from other priorities.
Members of the public engaging in coordinated campaigns: agencies' ability to detect and filter automated or mass comments could lead to discounting or downweighting of organized public submissions, reducing their influence.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires agencies to detect and label mass or computer-generated rulemaking comments, post representative samples when appropriate, publish policies, and directs OMB/GSA guidance and a GAO study.
Official title: To amend section 206 of the E-Government Act of 2002 to improve the integrity and management of mass comments and computer-generated comments in the regulatory review process, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 13, 2026 by Clay Higgins · Last progress July 13, 2026
Requires federal agencies to take steps to identify and manage mass and computer-generated public comments submitted during the federal rulemaking process. It directs OMB (with GSA) to issue guidance, requires agencies to publish policies for labeling and handling mass or computer-generated comments, updates eRulemaking systems, and tasks GAO with a report on prevalence and effects of automated comments. The law focuses on verification that comments are from humans when possible, labeling ‘‘mass comments,’’ allowing agencies to post representative samples instead of duplicative entries, and creating agency policies for posting and considering computer-generated and mass submissions. It sets timelines for guidance, agency policy publication, website/eRulemaking updates, and a GAO study of trends and impacts.