Senate bill could cut federal workers’ pay to $1 if they fail to respond to congressional requests

The fallout from last month’s Supreme Court decision to end legal deference to agencies when interpreting federal laws continues to reverberate through Congress, with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., writing new legislation that would add new requirements for potential rulemaking, including financial penalties for federal employees who fail to respond to congressional inquiries.

The Cassidy Accountability Standards Act would require agency leaders to testify before appropriate congressional committees within 30 days of any significant regulatory change and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of any significant regulation within five years of its effective date, among other provisions.

The bill is one of several Republican proposals that have emerged since the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Relentless and Loper Bright v. Department of Commerce, which overturned a four-decade-old legal precedent known as the Chevron rule, which allows courts to defer to agency decisions when interpreting ambiguous statutory language.

In the wake of the ruling, which now calls on the judicial branch to rule on contested legal interpretations, Cassidy — a ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — said in a July 23 statement that the bill would help rein in federal agencies and provide Congress with greater oversight.

“For decades, the executive branch has used deference to Chevron to expand its power beyond what Congress intended, while bypassing congressional oversight,” he said.. “Now that respect for Chevron has eroded, Congress must take action to rein in executive power and hold it accountable to the people and their elected representatives.”

Under the proposal, Senate appointees would also be required to testify before congressional committees with the appropriate authority, and committee chairmen could waive that rule on a case-by-case basis. It would allow agencies to communicate more with Congress while developing proposed rules and outside the public comment period, and it would require agencies to respond to committees within 30 days or face penalties.

If the agency does not respond within 60 days of the congressional request, the recipient of the letter will be required to testify before the committee, according to the statute. If the request from at least one senator and member of the House is not acted on within 90 days, the recipient’s salary could be reduced to $1 until the agency responds.

The cost-benefit analysis requirements would also require a retrospective analysis to be submitted to Congress, the Comptroller General, and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, including explanations for situations where updated analyses differ from the initial assessment.

OIRA will also publish an annual report containing reviews and recommendations.

Cassidy’s bill is a follow-up to Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas,’s Bureaucratic Overreach Review Act, which aims to force agencies to reevaluate and modify rules that have applied the Chevron rule in past court cases.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and other Republicans have sent letters to multiple agencies asking them to reconsider the regulations in light of the recent ruling.

Cassidy’s bill has been referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.