APPT-001 — Appointments Accountability and Confirmation Safeguards Act

A BILL

To strengthen statutory limits on temporary service in offices requiring appointment by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, prevent circumvention through substantially complete delegations of authority, improve public and congressional reporting, preserve office-specific appointment backstops, and provide timely judicial review.

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 “Appointments Accountability and Confirmation Safeguards Act”.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this Act are—

(1) to preserve lawful temporary continuity in executive agencies while ensuring that temporary service does not become an indefinite substitute for appointment by and with the advice and consent of the Senate;

(2) to prevent evasion of statutory service limits through an assignment that transfers substantially all of the practical authority of a vacant office while avoiding an acting title;

(3) to make the identity, authority, duration, and legal basis of temporary officeholders and material delegates promptly available to Congress and the public;

(4) to make statutory consequences and review operate without depending exclusively on discretionary congressional opposition;

(5) to preserve reasonable reliance, emergency protection, and routine government operations; and

(6) to require an affirmative and publicly accountable legislative choice before the safeguards established by this Act are displaced.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ACTING SERVICE AND DELEGATED AUTHORITY.

(a) Definitions.

Section 3348(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(3) the term ‘covered authority’ means a function, duty, supervisory power, final approval authority, policy-direction authority, or representational authority of a vacant office that—

“(A) is assigned to the office by statute or regulation;

“(B) was formally assigned or delegated to the office during the 180-day period preceding the vacancy; or

“(C) is included within a substantially complete authority arrangement described in paragraph (4);

“(4) the term ‘substantially complete authority arrangement’ means one or more assignments, delegations, directives, title designations, or organizational arrangements under which a person who is not serving in accordance with sections 3345, 3346, and 3347—

“(A) directs or supervises a predominant portion of the component, personnel, or operations ordinarily directed or supervised by the vacant officer;

“(B) exercises final approval over a predominant portion of the significant policy, enforcement, adjudicative, regulatory, spending, contracting, personnel, or representational matters ordinarily decided by the vacant officer;

“(C) publicly or internally exercises substantially the same authority as the vacant officer, whether or not the person uses the title ‘acting’ or ‘performing the duties of’; or

“(D) receives a combination of discrete delegations that, considered together, has substantially the same practical effect as service in the vacant office; and

“(5) the term ‘material delegation’ means a written or unwritten delegation or assignment made because of, during, or in anticipation of a covered vacancy that authorizes a person other than the agency head or a person serving in accordance with sections 3345, 3346, and 3347 to exercise covered authority, but does not include a routine ministerial assignment that does not involve final decision-making, supervision, policy direction, or representation as the officer.”.

(b) Redesignation.

Section 3348 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively.

(c) Anti-circumvention rule.

Section 3348 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following:

“(c) Substantially complete authority arrangements.—

“(1) A person may not exercise covered authority through a substantially complete authority arrangement during a period in which that person could not lawfully serve as the acting officer under sections 3345, 3346, and 3347.

“(2) A general vesting or delegation statute does not authorize an arrangement prohibited by paragraph (1) unless an Act of Congress expressly authorizes the temporary exercise of substantially complete authority for the specified office or objectively defined class of offices.

“(3) Paragraph (1) does not prohibit—

“(A) the agency head from performing a function or duty as provided by subsection (b);

“(B) a first assistant or other employee from performing a discrete, lawfully delegable task under a material delegation that satisfies subsection (d);

“(C) action strictly necessary to protect life, physical safety, national security, property, the continuity of benefit payments, or compliance with a judicial order when delay would create a substantial and imminent risk, if the action and its basis are reported under subsection (d) not later than 3 business days after the action; or

“(D) service expressly authorized by another Act of Congress that identifies the office or an objectively defined class of offices and authorizes temporary service.

“(4) The agency bears the burden of establishing that an arrangement falls within an exception in paragraph (3) in an action brought under section 3350.

“(d) Material delegations.—

“(1) A material delegation is effective only if it—

“(A) is in writing;

“(B) identifies the vacant office, delegate, delegating officer, statutory authority, covered authority, effective date, and expiration date;

“(C) explains why the delegation does not create a substantially complete authority arrangement;

“(D) states that the delegate may not use the title of the vacant office or represent that the delegate occupies that office; and

“(E) is reported and published as required by section 3349.

“(2) A material delegation may not remain effective for more than 90 days unless renewed in writing with a new explanation satisfying paragraph (1). Renewal does not authorize a substantially complete authority arrangement or extend a period of acting service.

“(3) Two or more delegations to the same person or coordinated persons shall be considered together when determining whether a substantially complete authority arrangement exists.

“(4) The absence of publication does not invalidate emergency action described in subsection (c)(3)(C) during the initial 3-business-day reporting period.”.

SEC. 4. REPORTING, PUBLIC EXPLANATION, AND A SINGLE PUBLIC RECORD.

(a) Agency reports.

Section 3349(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

“(a) The head of each Executive agency (including the Executive Office of the President, and other than the Government Accountability Office) shall submit to the Comptroller General of the United States, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, each House of Congress, and the chair and ranking minority member of each appropriate committee of jurisdiction, and shall publish in the public record established under section 4(d) of the Appointments Accountability and Confirmation Safeguards Act—

“(1) not later than 3 business days after a vacancy occurs, notice identifying the office and the date and cause of the vacancy;

“(2) not later than 3 business days after a person begins or ends acting service, the person's name, position, authority, beginning or ending date, and applicable service period;

“(3) not later than 3 business days after a nomination is submitted, withdrawn, returned, rejected, or confirmed, the nominee, office, event, and date;

“(4) not later than 3 business days after a material delegation, as defined in section 3348(a), is issued, renewed, modified, or terminated, the delegation and the statement required by section 3348(d);

“(5) not later than 3 business days after the agency determines that a statutory service period has begun, been extended, expired, or restarted, the applicable dates, calculation, and statutory basis; and

“(6) not later than 7 days after receiving a written inquiry from the Comptroller General concerning a possible unreported vacancy, service period, or delegation, a complete response or an explanation of the additional time reasonably required.”.

(b) Legal-basis statement.

Section 3349 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c) Each report concerning acting service or a material delegation shall include an unclassified statement identifying—

“(1) the statutory authority relied upon;

“(2) the applicable service period and calculated expiration date;

“(3) the functions, duties, and covered authority exercised;

“(4) any nomination pending for the office;

“(5) any agency-specific succession statute relied upon; and

“(6) any classified, privileged, or protected information omitted, described to the greatest extent possible without revealing the protected information.”.

(c) Federal Register notice.

Section 3349 of title 5, United States Code, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

“(d) Not later than 7 days after an event described in subsection (a), the agency shall publish the report or a link to the complete report in the Federal Register. Publication under this subsection does not make classified or otherwise lawfully protected information public.”.

(d) Integrated public record.

The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Comptroller General, shall maintain a searchable, sortable, downloadable, machine-readable, and historically preserved public record that integrates, for every covered office—

(1) the information required by section 3349 of title 5, United States Code;

(2) the position and appointment information required by section 3330f of that title;

(3) each material delegation and legal-basis statement;

(4) the current acting-service deadline and its calculation;

(5) each Comptroller General determination under section 5; and

(6) a conspicuous statement of known missing, disputed, late, or corrected information.

The record shall preserve prior entries and identify the date, source, and reason for each correction.

SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND NOTICE.

(a) Required review.

The Comptroller General shall initiate a compliance review when—

(1) reported information shows that an acting-service period has expired or will expire within 30 days without a statutory extension;

(2) an agency reports a material delegation after expiration of acting service;

(3) two or more material delegations may constitute a substantially complete authority arrangement;

(4) the public records required by section 4 materially conflict; or

(5) credible information indicates that an agency failed to report a covered vacancy, acting official, material delegation, or expiration.

(b) Determination.

Not later than 30 days after initiating a review, or as soon thereafter as practicable if classified information or extraordinary complexity requires additional time, the Comptroller General shall publish a determination stating—

(1) the facts established by the available record;

(2) the statutory provisions and agency-specific authorities considered;

(3) whether the reported service or arrangement complies with sections 3345 through 3349 of title 5, United States Code;

(4) what information remains unavailable or disputed; and

(5) whether corrective action is recommended.

A determination under this section is an independent congressional-support finding and does not bind a court.

(c) Notice and response.

The Comptroller General shall transmit the determination simultaneously to the President, the agency head, each House of Congress, the chair and ranking minority member of each committee of jurisdiction, and the public record established under section 4(d). The agency shall publish a written response or notice of corrective action not later than 10 days after receiving the determination.

SEC. 6. CONSEQUENCES OF NONCOMPLIANT SERVICE OR AUTHORITY.

(a) Material final actions.

Section 3348(f)(1) of title 5, United States Code, as redesignated by section 3(b), is amended—

(1) by inserting “or through a substantially complete authority arrangement prohibited by subsection (c)” after “in the performance of any function or duty”; and

(2) by inserting “, if the violation materially affected the action” before the period at the end.

(b) Ratification.

Section 3348(f)(2) of title 5, United States Code, as so redesignated, is amended to read as follows:

“(2) An action that has no force or effect under paragraph (1) may not be ratified by the same person or by a person whose authority depends upon the same noncompliant service or arrangement. A lawfully appointed and authorized officer may independently reconsider the matter on a complete record after providing any process otherwise required by law.”.

(c) Reliance and continuity protections.

Section 3348(f) of title 5, United States Code, as so redesignated, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(3) Paragraph (1) does not, solely because of the appointment violation—

“(A) require recovery of a benefit payment received in good faith;

“(B) invalidate a routine payment, ministerial act, or action necessary to protect life or physical safety;

“(C) disturb the rights of a third party who reasonably and detrimentally relied on an action without notice of the violation, unless necessary to remedy a constitutional or otherwise independently unlawful deprivation; or

“(D) prevent a court from tailoring prospective or equitable relief to protect reliance, orderly administration, and the rights of persons directly injured by the challenged action.”.

(d) Construction.

Nothing in this section creates a monetary claim against an individual officer or employee or makes a Comptroller General determination conclusive in litigation.

SEC. 7. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

(a) Cause of action.

Chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Ҥ 3350. Judicial review of temporary-service and delegation requirements

“(a) A person suffering a concrete legal injury caused by an alleged violation of sections 3345 through 3349 may bring a civil action against the United States and the responsible officers for declaratory or equitable relief.

“(b) An action may be brought in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or in another district court in which venue is otherwise proper under title 28. The United States waives sovereign immunity for relief authorized by this section.

“(c) The court shall decide questions of statutory authority and statutory interpretation de novo. Agency factual findings receive only the weight warranted by the record and do not control the legal classification of acting service, covered authority, or a substantially complete authority arrangement.

“(d) The action shall receive expedited consideration under section 1657 of title 28. The agency shall lodge the administrative record, including the relevant appointment, succession, delegation, and reporting materials, not later than 14 days after service unless the court orders otherwise.

“(e) The court may issue appropriate declaratory and equitable relief, including setting aside a material final agency action, enjoining continued exercise of covered authority, requiring a nondiscretionary report, or directing lawful reconsideration. This section does not authorize money damages or relief against the President personally.

“(f) No provision of this section shall be construed to dispense with the requirements of article III of the Constitution.”.

(b) Clerical amendment.

The table of sections for chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“3350. Judicial review of temporary-service and delegation requirements.”.

SEC. 8. PRESERVATION OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY APPOINTMENT BACKSTOP.

(a) Continued judicial appointment authority.

Section 546 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(e)(1) If a United States attorney appointed under subsection (d) is removed before a United States attorney appointed by the President under section 541 is confirmed, the vacancy remains governed by subsection (d). The removal does not begin a new 120-day period under subsection (c), revive an expired appointment under subsection (a), or authorize the Attorney General to restore the removed or expired appointee through a designation, delegation, or substantially complete authority arrangement.

“(2) Pending a new appointment under subsection (d), the first assistant United States attorney may perform routine and emergency functions to the extent otherwise authorized by law, but may not be designated to exercise substantially complete authority in violation of chapter 33 of title 5.

“(3) Not later than 3 business days after a removal described in paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall publish in the Federal Register and transmit to the appointing court and the chair and ranking minority member of the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate—

“(A) notice of the removal and its effective time;

“(B) the statutory and constitutional authority relied upon;

“(C) the identity and legal authority of each person who will exercise functions of the office pending a new appointment; and

“(D) whether the President intends to submit a nomination and, if so, the anticipated timetable.

“(4) Nothing in this subsection limits the authority of the President under section 541(c), creates a for-cause removal standard, or authorizes a court to review the President's reasons for removal. This subsection governs the statutory consequences and succession process following removal.”.

(b) Construction.

Nothing in this section determines whether any particular exercise of prosecutorial authority is lawful, requires nomination of a particular person, or limits otherwise applicable rules concerning recusal, disqualification, or supervision of a criminal matter.

SEC. 9. TRANSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION.

(a) Existing vacancies and delegations.

Not later than 60 days after enactment, each executive agency shall report and publish the information required by this Act for every then-existing covered vacancy, acting official, person performing the duties of a vacant office, and material delegation.

(b) Conformity period.

An existing material delegation shall be brought into conformity with section 3348(d) of title 5, United States Code, as added by this Act, not later than 60 days after enactment. This period does not extend an expired period of acting service or authorize a substantially complete authority arrangement.

(c) Regulations and guidance.

Not later than 90 days after enactment—

(1) the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Comptroller General shall publish implementation standards for the integrated public record and compliance-review process; and

(2) each executive agency shall update vacancy, succession, delegation, and records guidance to conform to this Act.

(d) Authorization of appropriations.

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Personnel Management to carry out the additional review, data-quality, publication, and historical-preservation duties established by this Act.

SEC. 10. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to—

(1) require the Senate to confirm, reject, hold a hearing on, or vote upon a nomination;

(2) limit the President's authority to nominate a person or to remove an officer who is otherwise removable by the President, except that Congress may specify the statutory succession consequences of a removal;

(3) prohibit lawful temporary service, career succession, or discrete delegation consistent with this Act;

(4) treat an acting official's policy position, party affiliation, personal loyalty, or disagreement with Congress as evidence of a violation;

(5) authorize either political party or a congressional minority to control executive personnel or agency policy;

(6) alter a statutory tenure protection or office-specific succession law except as expressly provided; or

(7) preclude Congress from later amending, suspending, or repealing any provision through an Act of Congress.

SEC. 11. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act or an amendment made by this Act, or the application of that provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application of its provisions and amendments to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

Budgetary Impact Statement

Preliminary classification: Low-to-moderate administrative and litigation impact. The draft relies on existing GAO, OPM, agency, Federal Register, and federal-court functions. Its principal incremental costs are vacancy and delegation reporting, data reconciliation, public-system improvements, GAO compliance reviews, and expedited record production. It creates no new agency, tribunal, judgeship, grant program, or entitlement. Section 9 authorizes such sums as may be necessary for GAO and OPM because GAO's 2026 PLUM review identified unresolved data-quality work and this proposal adds affirmative review duties. A reliable dollar estimate requires agency, GAO, OPM, and Administrative Office workload data.

Note: Preliminary ARRP assessment only; not a CBO, OMB, agency, or legislative-counsel score.

Drafting Notes

• This is an initial statutory draft. Legislative counsel should verify subsection redesignations and cross-references throughout 5 U.S.C. §§ 3348 and 3349 and convert any remaining freestanding implementation directions into the preferred Code placement.
• The definition of a substantially complete authority arrangement is intended to reach functional acting service without converting every lawful delegation into a confirmation requirement. Initial legal review should test whether “predominant portion,” “significant,” and aggregation language are sufficiently determinate.
• Section 6 attempts to strengthen consequences without destabilizing routine payments, emergency measures, or innocent third-party reliance. The no-force, ratification, and material-effect standards require detailed review against current FVRA and Administrative Procedure Act doctrine.
• Section 7 supplies an independent subject-specific remedy and does not rely on JUD-011. Article III standing remains constitutionally required.
• Section 8 does not restrict presidential removal under 28 U.S.C. § 541(c). It makes the judicial appointment backstop continue after removal and prevents automatic revival of an expired Attorney General appointment. The First Assistant transition, interaction with the Vacancies Act, and any constitutional objection require specific review.
• The draft does not create a privileged congressional resolution or purport to bind either chamber's internal rules. Political pressure is generated through automatic findings, simultaneous majority-and-minority notice, public legal explanations, and a searchable record.