Sponsors
The bill increases transparency and enforceability of House procedural rules—giving the public and courts stronger tools to challenge improperly enacted laws and improving legislative clarity—while imposing meaningful litigation risk, administrative burdens, and slower, less flexible lawmaking that could hinder time‑sensitive government action.
Taxpayers and the public gain more meaningful notice and time to review proposed laws because bills must be posted in machine-readable form and made publicly available for days before a vote, and Members are required to read full texts, reducing hidden provisions.
Individuals and Members gain enforceable avenues to challenge laws enacted without required procedures because courts are authorized to hear suits and private causes of action can enjoin enforcement of noncompliant Acts.
Members of Congress and taxpayers benefit from stronger legislative accountability: Members must cite the constitutional authority for bills and are required to consider full bill texts before voting, making it harder to pass measures without clear legal bases or full deliberation.
Taxpayers, state and local governments face substantially more litigation and higher court caseloads because almost any aggrieved person can sue over House procedural violations, increasing legal costs for individuals and government.
There is a significant risk that existing statutes and federal programs could be invalidated or thrown into legal uncertainty while procedural challenges proceed, disrupting administration of services (including health systems) and imposing economic costs.
Urgent, time-sensitive, or emergency legislation (including emergency funding) could be delayed—hurting taxpayers and governments—because verbatim readings and multi-day public posting requirements lengthen the time before a law can be enacted.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Requires full constitutional citations and full-text publication, live reading, and seven-day public posting before final floor votes; bans waivers and allows court suits to challenge violations.
Introduced January 9, 2025 by Rand Paul · Last progress January 9, 2025
Requires Congress to provide full-text transparency and formal legal authority for every bill and resolution: measures must cite the specific constitutional powers they rely on, include exact current and amended statutory text, be posted publicly in machine-readable form at least 7 days before a final passage vote, and be read verbatim to the physically assembled chamber before passage. It also empowers any person harmed by enforcement of a law enacted in violation of these procedural rules to sue, forbids either House or Congress from waiving the new requirements, and includes a severability clause and a minor technical table entry.