District of Columbia Home Rule Improvement Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Representative Gosar, Paul A. [R-AZ-9]
In Committee
Summary
Uniform 60-day congressional review for District laws and rules.
Show full summary
This bill would set a single 60-day review window for acts the D.C. Council sends to Congress and for executive orders and regulations the Mayor transmits. It would remove the emergency exception and expand Congress's ability to disapprove whole acts or individual provisions through faster procedures.
- District residents and families would see local laws and regulations subject to a 60-day federal review before taking effect. Emergency local measures would no longer bypass that review.
- The Mayor and D.C. Council would have to transmit executive orders and regulations to Congress, could not withdraw transmitted acts during the review period, and could not refile a substantially similar act after a congressional disapproval without later authorization.
- Congress would get clearer, expedited tools to block local actions, including a 20-calendar-day committee reporting window, a capped one-hour House floor debate split evenly, and a 10-hour Senate debate limit. The bill would also require annual state-of-District hearings with the Mayor and Council Chair.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 7 costs, 1 mixed.
Congress could block parts of laws
If enacted, this bill would let Congress disapprove an entire D.C. Act or only specific provision(s) of an Act by joint resolution. Disapproving a provision would not automatically repeal the rest of the Act. Congress could later enact separate resolutions to disapprove other provisions.
D.C. Council barred from withdrawing laws
If enacted, this bill would stop the D.C. Council from withdrawing an act after it has been transmitted to the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate during the congressional review period. The act would remain under review for the full period even if the Council tries to take it back.
Faster congressional disapproval rules
If enacted, this bill would make Congress use faster, stricter rules to consider joint resolutions that disapprove D.C. Council acts, mayoral executive orders, or regulations. Committees would generally have 20 calendar days to report. The House would limit debate to one hour; the Senate would limit debate to 10 hours and apply a 60-session-day ceiling for certain Senate procedures.
Limits on D.C. emergency laws
If enacted, this bill would prevent many emergency-designated D.C. acts and any extension or substantially similar follow-on acts from skipping congressional review. Extensions and very similar laws would be subject to the standard 60-day review. The bill would also make the 90-day emergency rule subject to that 60-day framework.
Longer 60-day review for D.C. laws
If enacted, this bill would give Congress 60 days to review D.C. Council acts instead of 30 days. The 60 days would skip any days when either House is adjourned more than three days. The review clock would start on the later of sending the act to the Speaker of the House or to the President of the Senate. The bill would also remove a prior shorter review option.
Mayor orders delayed until review
If enacted, this bill would require the Mayor to send every executive order and each executive-branch regulation to the Speaker and the President of the Senate. Those orders and rules would take effect only after the 60-day congressional review period or on their own effective date, whichever is later. If Congress passed and the President signed a joint resolution disapproving an order or rule during that period, the order or rule would be repealed as of the date the disapproval became law.
No re-submitting rejected D.C. laws
If enacted, this bill would bar the D.C. Council from sending another act that is substantially the same as a measure Congress already disapproved by joint resolution and that became law, unless a later federal law specifically authorizes the Council to do so. The rule applies to disapprovals enacted on or after this bill's enactment.
Annual federal oversight hearings for D.C.
If enacted, this bill would require the D.C. Council Chair and the Mayor to appear at least once a year before the House Oversight Committee and the Senate Homeland Security Committee. They would present a report on the state of the District and any recommendations they consider necessary.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Gosar, Paul A. [R-AZ-9]
AZ • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Comer, James [R-KY-1]
KY • R
Sponsored 9/8/2025
Hageman
WY • R
Sponsored 9/8/2025
Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3]
LA • R
Sponsored 9/9/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov