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REG-001 — Congressional Institutional Continuity and Anti-Nullification Act

A BILL

To preserve the lawful continuity of congressionally established institutions and mandatory statutory functions, prevent practical repeal by executive disablement, and provide timely judicial review while preserving constitutional presidential supervision.

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 “Congressional Institutional Continuity and Anti-Nullification Act.”

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this Act are to—

  1. distinguish lawful presidential supervision from practical suspension or repeal of Acts of Congress;
  2. preserve stronger continuity safeguards where Congress has created an institution with structural indicators of independence;
  3. preserve a narrower operational floor for mandatory functions assigned to ordinary executive agencies;
  4. require transparent legal and operational analysis before covered disablement becomes irreversible;
  5. aggregate coordinated personnel, funding, transfer, systems, records, and operational measures when their combined effect defeats a statutory command;
  6. provide timely relief for concrete statutory injuries without authorizing generalized institutional or ideological suits;
  7. provide a complete independent judicial route requiring no other ARRP proposal; and
  8. preserve existing agency-specific, appropriations, civil-service, records, administrative-law, and judicial remedies.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

Appropriate congressional committees means the committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate having legislative or oversight jurisdiction over the covered entity or mandatory statutory function and the Committees on Appropriations of each House.

Covered entity means an executive agency as defined in section 105 of title 5, or another department, agency, commission, board, bureau, office, government corporation, establishment, or instrumentality within the executive branch that an Act of Congress creates or continues. The term does not include the President personally, Congress or an instrumentality of Congress, a court of the United States, the government of the District of Columbia, or a territorial government.

Mandatory statutory function means a duty that an Act of Congress requires a covered entity or federal officer to perform and that is not committed by law to unreviewable discretion. The term does not include a preferred policy outcome, historical staffing level, discretionary enforcement choice, or function that Congress has lawfully suspended, transferred, or repealed.

Structural-independence indicators include fixed or staggered terms, multimember or bipartisan composition, quorum or holdover provisions, adjudicatory responsibilities, direct reporting to Congress, separate litigation or funding authority, express independence language, or another statutory feature demonstrating intended insulation from immediate partisan or presidential direction. No single indicator is dispositive.

Covered disablement means an action or deliberate course of inaction that, individually or in combination with related measures, creates a substantial and sustained inability of a covered entity to perform a mandatory statutory function, without express statutory authority for the resulting suspension, termination, transfer, or practical abolition.

Covered measure includes a removal; failure to use a lawful succession or continuity mechanism; vacancy practice; reduction in force; funding hold or restriction; transfer or delegation; stop-work instruction; systems or facility shutdown; destruction, concealment, transfer, or denial of records; termination of contracts, grants, or technical support; or other operational action.

Major covered measure means a covered measure reasonably expected, alone or together with related measures, to—

  1. eliminate or materially impair a mandatory statutory function for 30 days or more;
  2. prevent a multimember entity from satisfying a statutory quorum or completing a pending adjudication;
  3. affect a nationwide program, a material class of beneficiaries or regulated persons, or obligations exceeding $100,000,000 in a fiscal year; or
  4. cause an imminent and materially irreversible loss of records, systems, funds, jurisdiction, deadlines, or institutional capacity.

An official may not avoid the term by dividing related measures or understating reasonably foreseeable effects.

Responsible official means the head of a covered entity and any subordinate officer who orders, approves, or knowingly maintains a covered measure. The term does not include the President.

SEC. 4. TWO-TIER CONTINUITY STANDARD.

(a) Tier One institutions.

Where an organic statute, read as a whole, contains structural-independence indicators, each responsible official shall preserve the lawful operation of statutory quorum, holdover, succession, records, pending-adjudication, and continuity provisions.

Nothing in this subsection creates a removal restriction that the Constitution does not permit; compels the President to nominate a particular person; prevents removal authorized by the Constitution; or treats a statutory label as dispositive. If removal protection is unavailable, responsible officials shall use other lawful continuity mechanisms and may not combine removal, vacancy, funding, records, or operational measures to defeat functions Congress continues to require.

(b) Tier Two entities and functions.

For a covered entity subject to ordinary presidential supervision, no responsible official may create or maintain a covered disablement of a mandatory statutory function unless an Act of Congress expressly authorizes the resulting suspension, termination, transfer, or practical abolition.

The President and responsible officials retain authority to select officers consistent with law, remove officers where constitutionally permitted, establish lawful policy priorities, choose among legally available methods of execution, reorganize under delegated authority, decline discretionary enforcement, and make temporary good-faith adjustments that preserve reasonable capacity to perform mandatory statutory functions.

(c) Substantial and sustained inability.

A court shall determine substantial and sustained inability from the statutory duty, deadlines, affected persons, duration, available continuity mechanisms, agency records, cumulative effects, and likelihood that delay will make performance impossible or materially incomplete. A reduction from prior staffing or activity is not by itself a covered disablement.

(d) Anti-evasion.

Related covered measures shall be considered in the aggregate. A responsible official may not evade this Act by dividing a course of conduct among agencies, officers, appropriations accounts, contractors, delegations, time periods, legal forms, or nominally temporary actions.

SEC. 5. CONTINUITY INVENTORIES AND PLANS.

(a) Inventory.

Within 270 days after enactment, the head of each covered entity shall publish, subject to lawful redaction, an inventory identifying—

  1. mandatory statutory functions;
  2. structural-independence indicators;
  3. statutory quorum, holdover, succession, records, and continuity mechanisms;
  4. functions whose interruption would cause imminent loss of rights, funds, jurisdiction, records, deadlines, or adjudicatory capacity; and
  5. legal authorities for any planned transfer, suspension, or discontinuance.

(b) Continuity plan.

Each head shall maintain a plan for preserving mandatory statutory functions during vacancies, reorganizations, funding interruptions, emergencies, facility closures, systems failures, and major personnel transitions.

(c) Review.

Within 90 days after enactment, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Comptroller General and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, shall publish a common inventory and continuity-plan format. The format may prioritize functions by interruption risk and may permit a covered entity to incorporate a current legally sufficient inventory by reference, but may not narrow a statutory duty or the definitions in this Act.

The appropriate inspector general may review an inventory or plan. Subject to sections 716 and 719 of title 31 and other applicable law, the Comptroller General may review compliance, inspect relevant records, and report findings to Congress. An inventory classification is relevant but not conclusive in an action under section 9.

(d) Protection of sensitive information.

Nothing in this section requires public disclosure of classified information, personally identifiable information, grand-jury material, law-enforcement-sensitive information, privileged material, or security vulnerabilities. A lawful redaction shall identify the legal basis and may be reviewed in camera.

(e) Effect of administrative noncompliance.

Failure to complete an inventory, plan, or common format does not suspend a mandatory statutory function and does not alone create a private cause of action under section 9. A court may consider the failure as evidence when adjudicating an independently actionable violation of section 4, 6, or 8.

SEC. 6. CONTINUITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND NOTICE.

(a) Assessment.

Except as provided in subsection (d), at least 30 days before a covered entity implements a major covered measure reasonably likely to impair a mandatory statutory function, the responsible official shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees, the Comptroller General, and the appropriate inspector general, and publish subject to lawful redaction, a continuity impact assessment stating—

  1. the statutory authority for the measure;
  2. the mandatory functions affected;
  3. the expected operational effect and duration;
  4. the continuity mechanisms that will preserve lawful performance;
  5. the effect on pending adjudications, grants, contracts, benefits, records, deadlines, and reliance interests; and
  6. available alternatives and the reason the selected measure does not create a covered disablement.

(b) Updating duty.

If actual effects materially depart from the assessment, the responsible official shall update it within 7 days and take reasonable corrective measures.

(c) No inference from notice alone.

Failure to provide notice may support preservation relief but does not establish that the underlying measure is unlawful. Compliance with notice does not legalize a covered disablement.

(d) Emergency action.

A responsible official may act without advance notice when immediately necessary to protect life, physical safety, national security, cybersecurity, evidence, or essential government property. The responsible official shall provide the assessment within 72 hours, limit the measure to the emergency, and identify a termination date not more than 14 days after action unless another statute authorizes a longer period.

In an action under section 9, a three-judge court may extend the period for not more than 30 days upon clear and convincing evidence that the emergency remains imminent and concrete, the measure is likely within lawful authority, no narrower lawful measure will reasonably address the emergency, and the extension is necessary. Each further extension requires a new showing and particularized written findings.

(e) Protected assessment information.

An assessment shall identify each legal authority relied upon and provide a meaningful unclassified explanation of the expected operational effect. Material protected by law may be placed in a minimum-necessary annex transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees, the Comptroller General, and the appropriate inspector general subject to applicable safeguards. Any public redaction shall identify the withholding category and legal basis where lawful and provide a reasonably segregable summary. Protection may not conceal the existence of a relied-upon legal authority, the general nature of a material effect, or the title of the responsible official.

SEC. 7. FAILURE CERTIFICATIONS.

(a) Authorized certifiers.

The Comptroller General or the appropriate inspector general may issue a written certification that specific covered measures appear to create or threaten a covered disablement. A certification shall identify the statutory function, evidence, responsible officials, expected duration, and available continuity mechanisms.

(b) Response.

Within 7 days after certification, the head of the covered entity shall state the corrective measures to be taken or the legal and factual basis for disagreement.

(c) Evidentiary effect.

A certification is admissible and may support expedition or preservation relief, but it is not binding on a court and does not itself create standing or commence an action.

(d) No private enforcement of response duty alone.

Failure to respond under subsection (b) does not alone create a private cause of action under section 9. A court may consider the failure as evidence when adjudicating an independently actionable violation of section 4, 6, or 8.

SEC. 8. PRESERVATION DUTIES.

Upon service of a complaint under section 9 or receipt of a certification under section 7 identifying the materials at issue, each responsible official shall preserve records, data, systems access, pending matters, property, and other materials reasonably necessary for judicial review and lawful continuity. The duty extends only to materials within the official's possession, custody, or control that are described with reasonable particularity or are reasonably identifiable from the alleged violation. Nothing in this section authorizes disclosure contrary to law, overrides a lawful privilege, or prevents ordinary records disposition under an approved schedule unrelated to the dispute.

SEC. 9. CIVIL ACTION AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

(a) Cause of action.

A person or entity described in subsection (b) suffering an actual or imminently threatened injury caused by an alleged violation of sections 4, 6, or 8 may bring a civil action for declaratory, injunctive, or other equitable relief authorized by this section.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have exclusive original jurisdiction under section 1331 of title 28 over a claim arising under this section. The United States waives sovereign immunity for such a claim seeking relief other than money damages. A mandatory or injunctive decree shall specify the responsible Federal officer or officers who must comply. This subsection does not authorize retrospective money damages, create jurisdiction over a claim arising solely under another law, or waive another law's exhaustion, channeling, or exclusive-review requirement.

(b) Eligible plaintiffs.

Subject to Article III, an action may be brought by—

  1. a State, Indian Tribe, territory, or local government whose administration, funds, legal obligations, or sovereign interests are materially impaired;
  2. a recipient, beneficiary, regulated person, applicant, contractor, grantee, or other person whose concrete statutory right, payment, proceeding, or legal obligation is materially impaired;
  3. a covered entity, board, commission, member, or officer only to the extent another law gives the entity or officer capacity to sue or independent litigating authority;
  4. the Comptroller General to enforce access to information or another duty Congress has lawfully authorized the Comptroller General to enforce;
  5. Congress, acting through an officer designated after each House adopts a resolution authorizing the same civil action, only when Congress independently satisfies Article III requirements; or
  6. another person expressly authorized by an applicable organic statute.

An employee's employment injury alone shall be resolved through otherwise applicable civil-service, labor, or personnel law unless the employee also has an independently cognizable statutory injury under this subsection.

(c) Exclusive forum and three-judge court.

An action under this section shall be filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and heard by a three-judge court convened under section 2284 of title 28 and this section. This Act supplies the complete statutory cause of action, jurisdictional route, eligible plaintiffs, standards, burdens, defenses, remedies, administration, appeal, and reporting necessary for independent operation; actual operations remain subject to appropriations. A claim filed elsewhere shall be transferred under section 1631 of title 28 if transfer is in the interest of justice and otherwise dismissed without prejudice.

(d) Formation of three-judge court.

  1. Initial assignment and threshold. The clerk shall randomly assign the action to a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Unless the assigned judge determines that the claim requiring a three-judge court is wholly insubstantial or frivolous, that judge shall immediately notify the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in accordance with section 2284(b)(1) of title 28. A threshold dismissal is reviewable through the ordinary appellate route.
  2. Designation. Upon notice, the chief judge of the circuit shall designate two additional judges in accordance with section 2284(b)(1) of title 28. Assignment and designation may not consider political affiliation, appointing President, anticipated outcome, or a judge's views concerning the controversy.
  3. Deadline. The clerk, assigned judge, and chief judge shall complete the required steps as soon as practicable and, absent extraordinary circumstances, not later than 24 hours after a filing requesting emergency relief or 3 business days after another filing. Failure to meet the deadline does not divest the court of jurisdiction, and the assignment shall be completed promptly thereafter.
  4. Recusal and replacement. Sections 144 and 455 of title 28 apply. A disqualified judge shall be replaced through the same assignment or designation process.

(e) Authority before panel formation.

Before the three-judge court is constituted, the initially assigned district judge may—

  1. make the threshold determination authorized by subsection (d)(1);
  2. issue a temporary restraining order under rule 65(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when necessary to prevent imminent and irreparable loss of statutory capacity, rights, funds, records, jurisdiction, or meaningful relief;
  3. decide routine nondispositive administrative matters; and
  4. exercise authority otherwise permitted to a single judge under section 2284(b)(3) of title 28.

Except for a threshold dismissal under subsection (d)(1), the single judge may not dismiss the action, enter judgment on the merits, or grant or deny a preliminary or permanent injunction. A temporary restraining order expires within the period prescribed by rule 65(b) unless the three-judge court acts sooner.

(f) Interim relief and preservation.

The three-judge court may extend, modify, or dissolve a temporary restraining order and may consider preliminary relief after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Interim relief requires written findings concerning likelihood of success, irreparable harm, the equities, and the public interest.

An order may preserve records, systems, funds, pending matters, facilities, contracts, staffing authority, or a lawful continuity mechanism. It may not require the nomination or appointment of a particular person, dictate a discretionary policy outcome, or preserve a function Congress has lawfully suspended, transferred, or repealed.

(g) Expedition, fact development, and public process.

  1. Priority. An action under this section shall receive priority under section 1657 of title 28 over nonemergency civil matters to the maximum extent consistent with due process and the needs of criminal, habeas, election, and other statutorily prioritized proceedings.
  2. Interim-relief schedule. The court shall establish an expedited briefing schedule, complete any necessary hearing not later than 10 days after a request for interim relief is fully briefed, and issue a decision not later than 10 days after the hearing or completion of briefing if no hearing is required. The court may extend a deadline only through a written finding of extraordinary circumstances.
  3. Merits target. The court should issue a final merits decision not later than 90 days after the record is ready for decision. If it cannot meet that target, it shall issue a public order stating the reason and a revised schedule, subject to lawful sealing.
  4. Record development. Consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court may require verified factual submissions, continuity assessments, agency records, privilege logs, compliance plans, and status reports; permit targeted expedited discovery; appoint a magistrate judge or special master as permitted by law; and take testimony concerning disputed jurisdictional or remedial facts.
  5. Protected information. Filings, hearings, assignments, and orders shall be public unless sealing or closure is required by law and supported by particularized findings. The court shall use the least restrictive lawful means to protect classified, privileged, grand-jury, law-enforcement-sensitive, personal, proprietary, or otherwise protected information; require a privilege log or comparable identification where lawful; and require a reasonably segregable public summary when one can be provided without disclosing protected matter. Classified or other protected material may be reviewed in camera or ex parte only as authorized by law and necessary to resolve the issue. Protection may not conceal the existence of a relied-upon legal authority, the general nature of a material operational effect, the title of a responsible official, or a public order's operative command.
  6. Due process. Expedition may not eliminate reasonable notice, an opportunity to be heard, impartial adjudication, or another process constitutionally required in the action.

(h) Merits standard.

The plaintiff shall establish a covered disablement or violation by a preponderance of the evidence. The Government may show that the function is discretionary, Congress authorized the effect, lawful continuity remains reasonably adequate, or the action is a temporary good-faith measure permitted by this Act.

(i) Relief.

Final relief shall be no broader than necessary to restore lawful capacity to perform the mandatory statutory function or to cure a notice or preservation violation. The court may order use of an existing lawful succession or continuity mechanism, restoration of access to records or systems, reconsideration under the correct statutory standard, release or preservation of funds when independently authorized by appropriations law, compliance reporting, or other equitable relief. A decree shall identify responsible officers and bind successors in office and other persons only to the extent permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The court may not award money damages, direct a discretionary enforcement outcome, dictate policy within statutory bounds, compel a particular nomination or appointment, recreate removal protection forbidden by the Constitution, require maintenance of an historical staffing level, or assume management of an agency. Relief shall ordinarily run against responsible subordinate officers. Nothing in this Act authorizes coercive relief against the President, and the availability of effective relief against subordinate officers shall be considered in redressability and remedy.

The independent three-judge court may consolidate or coordinate actions under this Act presenting common questions of law or fact when doing so promotes consistent and efficient adjudication without prejudicing a party or defeating an emergency deadline.

This Act does not displace review otherwise available under the Administrative Procedure Act, an organic statute, appropriations law, civil-service law, records law, habeas corpus, or another Act of Congress. A claim arising solely under another law remains subject to that law's exhaustion, channeling, jurisdiction, limitations, and exclusive-review provisions. A party may not evade such a provision by relabeling the claim under this Act, but an independently sufficient claim under sections 4, 6, or 8 is not barred merely because the same conduct is reviewable under another law. The court shall coordinate overlapping relief to prevent duplication or conflicting commands and shall not transfer habeas, criminal, individual personnel, or other claims into this procedure merely because they share background facts.

Except to the extent this Act expressly provides otherwise, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern class treatment, intervention, consolidation, special masters, injunctions, stays, enforcement, and other procedure. Expedition does not alter the requirements of rules 23, 24, 53, 62, 65, or 71.

(k) Appellate review.

In an action under this section—

  1. notwithstanding section 1253 of title 28, an appeal from a final decision shall be taken under section 1291 of title 28 to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction;
  2. an order granting, denying, modifying, or dissolving a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction shall be appealable under section 1292(a)(1) of title 28 as an order concerning an injunction, and an appeal shall be filed not later than 10 days after entry;
  3. the court of appeals shall expedite the appeal and any motion for stay, and the filing of an appeal does not automatically stay the order under review;
  4. review by writ of certiorari remains available under section 1254 of title 28 in the Supreme Court of the United States; and
  5. a circuit judge who served on the independent three-judge court may not participate in appellate review of that proceeding.

SEC. 10. RELATIONSHIP TO APPROPRIATIONS AND PERSONNEL LAW.

Nothing in this Act authorizes an obligation or expenditure exceeding available appropriations, limits the Impoundment Control Act, or excuses compliance with civil-service, collective-bargaining, reduction-in-force, procurement, grants, records, or appropriations law. A claim principally involving impoundment or fiscal withholding should proceed under the more specific appropriations remedy, including the Ultra Vires Executive Directive Fiscal Review Act, when applicable.

SEC. 11. APPLICATION TO EXISTING MANDATES AND ONGOING DISABLEMENT.

This Act applies to a mandatory statutory function created before, on, or after enactment. It applies to covered measures taken after enactment and to a covered disablement that remains ongoing on the effective date. It does not create damages liability for completed historical conduct, reopen a final judgment, or automatically unwind a completed transaction or vested third-party right.

SEC. 12. REPORTS AND RULES.

(a) Judicial rules.

The Judicial Conference may prescribe public rules for independent-panel assignment, emergency filing, related-action identification, recusal replacement, intervention, class treatment, consolidation, stays, enforcement, sealing, protected information, electronic filing, and expenditure administration consistent with this Act. The Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in consultation with the chief judges and clerks of the District Court and Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, shall publish interim public filing and clerk guidance not later than 60 days after enactment and may revise that guidance to conform to later rules. A rule or guidance may not expand jurisdiction, create standing or a cause of action, alter a substantive standard or remedy, or direct a case outcome.

(b) Judicial administration report.

Not later than 180 days after the end of each of fiscal years 2027 through 2033, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall report publicly to the congressional Judiciary and Appropriations Committees on the number and disposition of independent proceedings, median assignment and decision times, aggregate recusals, staffing and special-master use, protected-information needs, obligations and expenditures, and any recommended capacity adjustment. The report shall not disclose sealed material or judicial deliberations.

(c) Institutional-continuity report.

Not later than 180 days after the end of each of fiscal years 2027 through 2033, the Comptroller General shall report on certifications, compliance patterns, recurring continuity risks, and recommendations for agency-specific legislation, without opining on pending merits.

SEC. 13. APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) Proposal-specific implementation.

There are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2033 such sums as may be necessary for inventories, continuity planning, Office of Management and Budget and Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency coordination, inspector-general and Comptroller General review, and proposal-specific implementation.

(b) Independent-review startup and operations.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Judiciary such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2033 for rules, clerk readiness, secure filing and records capability, personnel preparation, three-judge proceedings under section 9, and other costs necessary to make and keep the independent route operational.

(c) Administration and protection.

Amounts appropriated under subsection (a) shall be administered by the Federal entity to which Congress appropriates them and used only for the authorized implementation purpose. Amounts appropriated under subsection (b) shall be administered by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall be in addition to other amounts available to the Judiciary, may remain available until expended, and may not be transferred to an executive agency. No amount appropriated under this section may be withheld, conditioned, deferred, or impounded by an executive officer except as expressly authorized by a later Act of Congress.

(d) Audit and later years.

The Comptroller General shall audit legality, internal controls, procurement, security compliance, and financial administration without examining judicial deliberations or directing the merits of a proceeding. For later fiscal years, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary, based on the reports under section 12.

(e) No direct appropriation.

This section authorizes appropriations and does not itself provide budget authority.

SEC. 14. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act—

  1. enlarges or diminishes constitutional presidential appointment, removal, pardon, foreign-affairs, military, or supervisory authority;
  2. authorizes a court to adjudicate generalized policy disagreement or an abstract interbranch dispute;
  3. creates independent litigating authority where no statute supplies it;
  4. makes a Comptroller General or inspector-general certification conclusive;
  5. alters criminal defendants' rights, habeas corpus, or a court's authority to enforce its own orders; or
  6. permits administrative rulemaking to expand federal jurisdiction.

SEC. 15. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act or its application is held invalid, the remainder and its application to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected.

SEC. 16. EFFECTIVE DATE.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Act takes effect on enactment. Sections 4, 6, 8, and 9 take effect 90 days after enactment. The absence or incompleteness of an inventory, continuity plan, rule, or guidance does not suspend a mandatory statutory function or delay the effective date of an operative provision.

Budgetary Impact Statement

The bill authorizes such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2027 through 2033 for standalone judicial readiness and three-judge-panel administration, without creating new judgeships or directly providing budget authority. It separately authorizes necessary agency, OMB, CIGIE, inspector-general, GAO, and implementation appropriations and assigns each appropriation to its proper administering entity. CBO, GAO, AOUSC, appropriations, inspector-general, and agency workload review remains necessary before Congress selects a fixed amount.

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

Drafting Notes

  • The bill regulates practical statutory disablement, not the President's expression of policy or every change in agency staffing and enforcement priority.
  • Tier One preserves lawful continuity safeguards without assuming that Congress may recreate for-cause removal protection invalid under current doctrine.
  • Tier Two requires substantial and sustained inability to perform a mandatory function; it does not preserve historical staffing or outcomes.
  • The cause of action supplies exclusive D.D.C. jurisdiction and a non-damages sovereign-immunity waiver, identifies concrete plaintiff categories, and remains expressly subject to Article III.
  • This bill is the independent REG-001 alternative. It neither invokes nor depends on the Interbranch Review Framework Act (JUD-011) or another ARRP proposal.
  • The standalone route uses existing section 2284 designation machinery and adds assignment deadlines, Rule 65(b) temporary preservation, fact development, D.C. Circuit review under sections 1291 and 1292, certiorari under section 1254, reporting, and protected funding.
  • The internal project review removed the unsupported fixed startup and annual direct-appropriation placeholders. The internal project review identified agency-inventory, GAO, inspector-general, Judiciary, protected-record, discovery, and compliance workload categories, but no source supports a fixed incremental amount. Fixed amounts should be considered only after AOUSC, representative-agency, GAO, inspector-general, and CBO review.
  • Existing mandates may be protected against ongoing and future disablement even if enacted before REG-001.
  • The internal project review confines the covered universe to executive-branch entities, excludes the President as a responsible official, anchors GAO access in title 31, phases inventories through a common OMB-GAO-CIGIE format, bounds emergency extensions, and preserves ordinary Federal Rules for class, intervention, stay, and enforcement mechanics.
  • The internal project review corrected fund administration so only Judiciary appropriations are administered by AOUSC, assigned implementation funds to their congressional recipients, added 60-day filing guidance and dated reports, clarified emergency actors and effective dates, and confirmed that actual operation remains subject to appropriations.

Source Notes

  • Constitutional and statutory review should include the Take Care Clause overview, Trump v. Slaughter, Trump v. Cook, the Administrative Procedure Act cause-of-action provisions, and the Impoundment Control Act.
  • Legislative-counsel review should test the definitions of covered entity, mandatory function, major covered measure, and responsible official; interaction with organic statutes and sovereign-immunity waivers; congressional and institutional standing; officer-suit capacity; relief against subordinate officers; D.D.C. jurisdiction; three-judge assignment; single-judge authority under 28 U.S.C. § 2284(b)(3); express TRO appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1); appellate disqualification under 28 U.S.C. § 47; priority under 28 U.S.C. § 1657; and displacement of 28 U.S.C. § 1253.