Sponsors (9)
The bill speeds up restoration of House representation and creates federal and private enforcement mechanisms to ensure timely special elections, but it shifts administrative costs to states, risks federal–state legal conflict, and may complicate multi-step nomination systems.
Voters in states with House vacancies regain representation faster because states must hold special elections within 180 days, reducing prolonged vacancies in the House.
Taxpayers and state governments benefit from a clear federal enforcement backstop (DOJ) that helps ensure timely special elections and promotes uniformity and accountability across states.
State governments, candidates, and House leadership gain an additional enforcement channel because aggrieved parties (including the Speaker or House Minority Leader) can sue to compel timely elections.
State governments and taxpayers may incur increased administrative and logistical costs to run special elections on a faster timetable, raising expenses for taxpayers.
State chief executives could face federal lawsuits, creating legal disputes and federal–state tension over election authority that increase litigation and political costs.
States that use multi-step nomination processes may have to add ballots or change procedures because nominating-only elections are excluded, complicating administration for election officials.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires special elections to fill U.S. House vacancies within 180 days and authorizes DOJ and private suits to enforce that deadline.
Official title: To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives not later than 180 days after a vacancy occurs in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 29, 2026 by Christian D. Menefee · Last progress April 29, 2026
Requires states to hold special elections for U.S. House vacancies within 180 days of the vacancy (unless a regularly scheduled general election for that office occurs within that 180-day window). Replaces the current 49-day timeline and the Speaker-triggered exception with a 180-day default and adds enforcement tools: the Attorney General may sue a state chief executive to compel compliance and any person aggrieved (explicitly including the Speaker or House Minority Leader) may bring a private suit for declaratory or injunctive relief.