# 119-hr-9967: Congress Leads by Example Act of 2026

119-hr-9967, Congress Leads by Example Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9967
- As of: 2026-08-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-9967
- Congress: 119
- Title: Congress Leads by Example Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-27
- Sponsor: Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Congress
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-12

## Summary

**Strengthen enforcement and whistleblower protections for legislative branch workplaces.** This bill would give the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights new subpoena power and recordkeeping duties and expand employee rights like whistleblower defenses, parental bereavement leave, and protections from garnishment or bankruptcy-based discrimination. - Covered employees, including staff at the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress, would get clearer whistleblower rights, parental bereavement leave, and protections against discharge or discriminatory treatment tied to garnishment or bankruptcy. Remedies would track existing federal personnel and bankruptcy standards. - Employing offices would face new OSHA-style recordkeeping duties and the OCWR would regain subpoena authority and the power to seek temporary relief in unfair labor cases. The bill phases in these changes and allows interim use of the most relevant executive-agency rules while OCWR issues regulations. - Juror-employment protections would extend to legislative branch employers and certain hearings would be opened to the public. Claims under Title IV would go through a mandatory, faster mediation step with adjusted timing rules depending on who files the request.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Faster enforcement and open hearings: benefit, medium. This bill would give the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights stronger investigatory powers and OSHA-style recordkeeping for legislative employers. It would expand subpoena authority and let the Office's General Counsel use certain Labor Department-like authorities, with interim executive-agenc…
- More workplace rights for legislative employees: benefit, medium. This bill would extend several existing federal worker protections to legislative-branch employees, including GAO and Library of Congress staff. It would add whistleblower remedies, bankruptcy anti-discrimination and garnishment protections, and parental bereavement leave rights. It would also make…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-8870: BUILD America 250 Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-10421: Transforming Education for the Future Act
- 119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-9967 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9967)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-8870: BUILD America 250 Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8870)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-10421: Transforming Education for the Future Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10421)
- [119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6900)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9967 (as of 2026-08-12).