Sponsors (2)
Official title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain rules relating to the payment of attorney's fees.
Introduced June 30, 2026 by Thomas P. TIFFANY · Last progress June 30, 2026
The bill aims to limit government-paid attorneys' fees and clarify when agency actions count as regulations — saving taxpayer money and reducing abusive fee-seeking — but does so at the cost of lower fee recovery for many successful plaintiffs, reduced access to counsel for low‑income and vulnerable people, and increased litigation or centralized discretion that could delay or complicate policy implementation.
Taxpayers, federal agencies, and small businesses will likely pay less in government-funded attorneys' fees because awards are capped ($200,000) and limited per filer, and settlements that create guidance/regulation are less likely to trigger fee payments.
Courts gain clearer authority to deny or reduce fee awards for bad-faith or obstructive conduct and to account for pro bono contributions when setting awards, which should discourage frivolous or abusive litigation tactics and reduce duplicative recoveries.
Federal land managers, local communities, and natural resource stakeholders will receive an independent scientific assessment of how the Act affects forest and rangeland health, wildfire/insect susceptibility, economic productivity, and watershed quality, informing more evidence-based land management decisions.
People with meritorious claims — including people with disabilities, veterans, and some Social Security/Medicaid beneficiaries — may receive substantially less compensation for attorneys' fees, reducing their ability to secure counsel in complex cases.
Caps and stricter reduction standards will likely deter attorneys from taking low-fee cases on private pay, shrinking representation options for low-income and uninsured individuals.
Agencies and private parties may be less willing to settle disputes that would create guidance or policy changes, producing longer, costlier litigation and delays in implementing agency policy — shifting costs to taxpayers and slowing dispute resolution.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Caps fee awards to $200,000 per agency adjudication or civil action, restricts fee payments that produce agency rules or guidance in settlements, and requires a scientific panel to study effects on federal lands.
Limits awards of attorneys’ fees and litigation costs in federal agency adversary adjudications and most federal civil actions to $200,000 per matter and restricts fee payments that produce regulations or guidance in settlement agreements or consent decrees when a federal agency is a party. It also requires the Interior Secretary to assemble an independent 5-member scientific panel within five years to study how these changes affect ecological, social, and economic sustainability on federally managed forests and rangelands and to report findings to relevant congressional committees. The bill narrows when fee awards are available, allows courts or agencies to reduce or deny awards for bad-faith or obstructive conduct (and to factor in pro bono hours), defines “guidance document” and “regulation” for settlement purposes, and sets effective dates for actions and adjudications commenced on or after enactment.