Congressional Review Act Explainer
The Congressional Review Act gives Congress a process for reviewing federal agency rules and, through legislation, disapproving them. Agencies submit covered rules to Congress and the Government Accountability Office, commonly called GAO. Congress can then consider a joint resolution of disapproval. If that resolution becomes law, the targeted rule has no force or effect. The Act is a form of legislative oversight of agency rulemaking, linking rules written under delegated authority to an opportunity for elected lawmakers to reject a particular action.
Submission is important even when Congress takes no further action. The review framework applies to major and non-major rules, though major rules receive additional reporting and effective-date treatment. GAO maintains information about submitted rules and prepares reports on major rules. A classification as major generally concerns specified economic effects rather than a simple judgment that a rule is politically controversial. The Act also includes special congressional procedures, including expedited Senate consideration within applicable time limits. Those limits use detailed legislative-calendar rules rather than one straightforward everyday deadline.
Disapproval must complete the lawmaking process. Approval by one chamber alone does not overturn a rule. A joint resolution must pass both the House and Senate and be presented to the President; a veto can be overridden through the constitutional process. This distinguishes Congressional Review Act disapproval from a committee statement criticizing an agency. Congress is exercising legislative power over a specific rule. Other methods of changing policy, such as amending the agency’s statute or a later agency rulemaking, operate through different procedures.
Disapproval also affects what the agency can do next. The Act restricts reissuing a disapproved rule in substantially the same form, or issuing a substantially similar new rule, unless a later law specifically authorizes it. Interpreting that restriction can raise difficult questions. The Act does not mean that all agency rules require an affirmative congressional vote before taking effect. For readers, the key distinction is between a rule being submitted for review and a disapproval resolution actually becoming law. Only the completed legal action produces the Act’s central overturning effect.
The Act creates a review mechanism for rules issued by federal agencies. Agency submission begins the process but does not itself establish congressional approval or disapproval.
Major-rule treatment relates to statutory economic criteria. A rule can be intensely debated without its political visibility determining that legal classification.
GAO collects submitted rules and reports on major rules. Its role supports Congress’s review rather than allowing GAO to repeal an agency rule by itself.
A disapproval resolution must become law. House or Senate passage alone, a committee criticism, or a press release does not produce the same legal result.
The substantially-same-form restriction can affect future agency action after disapproval. Its scope may be disputed, so it should not be reduced to a universal ban on addressing the subject.
Special consideration periods depend on congressional calendar rules. Readers should avoid treating them as a fixed ordinary-day deadline for every rule.
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