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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9536 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9536
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain rules
relating to the payment of attorney's fees.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2026
Mr. Tiffany (for himself and Ms. Hageman) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain rules
relating to the payment of attorney's fees.
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 ``Fixing Egregiously Expensive Suits
Act of 2026'' or as the ``FEES Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE PROVISIONS.
(a) Agency Proceedings.--
(1) Eligibility parties.--Section 504(a)(1) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after ``prevailing
party'' the following: ``who has a direct and personal monetary
interest in the adjudication, including because of personal
injury, private property damage, or unpaid agency
disbursement,''.
(2) Limitation on awards.--Section 504(a) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(5) A party may not receive an award of fees and other expenses
under this section--
``(A) in excess of $200,000 in any single adversary
adjudication, or
``(B) for more than 3 adversary adjudications initiated in
the same calendar year,
unless the prevailing party has filed and prevailed in a class action
lawsuit or the Social Security Administration or Department of Veterans
Affairs is a party in such action.''.
(b) Civil Actions.--Section 2412(d)(1) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) by striking ``in any civil action'' and all
that follows through ``jurisdiction of that action''
and inserting ``in the civil action''; and
(B) by striking ``shall award to a prevailing party
other than the United States'' and inserting the
following: ``, in any civil action (other than cases
sounding in tort), including proceedings for judicial
review of agency action, brought by or against the
United States in any court having jurisdiction of that
action, shall award to a prevailing party who has a
direct and personal monetary interest in the civil
action, including because of personal injury, private
property damage, or unpaid agency disbursement, other
than the United States,'';
(2) in subparagraph (C)--
(A) by striking ``, in its discretion, may reduce
the amount to be awarded pursuant to this subsection,
or deny an award,'' and inserting ``shall reduce the
amount to be awarded under this subsection, or deny an
award, commensurate with pro bono hours and related
fees and expenses, or'';
(B) by striking ``unduly and''; and
(C) by striking ``controversy.'' and inserting
``controversy or acted in an obdurate, dilatory,
mendacious, or oppressive manner, or in bad faith.'';
and
(3) by adding at the end, the following:
``(E) An individual or entity may not receive an
award of fees and other expenses under this subsection
in excess of--
``(i) $200,000 in any single civil action,
or
``(ii) for more than 3 civil actions
initiated in the same calendar year, unless the
prevailing party has filed and prevailed in a
class action lawsuit or the Social Security
Administration or Department of Veterans
Affairs is a party in such action.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by--
(1) paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall apply
with respect to adversary adjudications commenced on or after
the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(2) subsection (b) shall apply with respect to civil
actions commenced on or after such date of enactment.
SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS AND CONSENT DECREES.
(a) Limitation on Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Costs.--A
settlement agreement or consent decree resulting in a regulation or
guidance document with respect to which a Federal agency is a party may
not include the payment of attorneys' fees or litigation costs.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Guidance document.--The term ``guidance document''--
(A) means an agency statement of general
applicability (other than a regulation that has the
force and effect of law promulgated in accordance with
the notice and public procedure under section 553 of
title 5, United States Code) that--
(i) does not have the force and effect of
law; and
(ii) sets forth--
(I) an agency decision or a policy
on a statutory, regulatory, or
technical issue; or
(II) an interpretation of a
statutory or regulatory issue; and
(B) may include--
(i) a memorandum;
(ii) a notice;
(iii) a bulletin;
(iv) a directive;
(v) a news release;
(vi) a letter;
(vii) a blog post;
(viii) a no-action letter;
(ix) a speech by an agency official;
(x) an advisory;
(xi) a manual;
(xii) a circular; or
(xiii) any combination of the items
described in clauses (i) through (xii).
(2) Regulation.--The term ``regulation''--
(A) means an agency statement of general
applicability and future effect, which the agency
intends to have the force and effect of law, that is
designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or
policy or to describe the procedure or practice
requirements of an agency;
(B) includes regulations issued pursuant to--
(i) an informal rulemaking under section
553 of title 5, United States Code;
(ii) a formal rulemaking under sections 556
and 557 of title 5, United States Code; and
(iii) any combination of the informal
rulemaking described in clause (i) and the
formal rulemaking described in clause (ii); and
(C) does not include--
(i) regulations that pertain to a military
or foreign affairs function of the United
States, other than procurement regulations and
regulations involving the import or export of
non-defense articles and services;
(ii) regulations or regulations that are
limited to agency organization, management, or
personnel matters; or
(iii) any other category of regulations
exempted by the Administrator of Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs.
SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Interior shall assemble an independent
scientific panel to conduct an assessment of the impacts of the
provisions of this Act on the ecological, social, and economic
sustainability of federally managed lands; including factors
including--
(1) Federal forest and rangeland health;
(2) susceptibility of Federal forests and rangelands to
catastrophic wildfire and insect infestation;
(3) biological diversity;
(4) watershed quality; and
(5) economic productivity of Federal forests and
rangelands.
(b) Report.--The panel shall report its conclusions upon completion
of the assessment to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the Senate.
(c) Scientific Panel Members.--The panel shall consist of 5
members, appointed by the Secretary--
(1) at least two of whom shall be hunters or anglers;
(2) at least one of whom shall be affiliated with the
forest products industry;
(3) at least one of whom shall be affiliated with a rural
water utility; and
(4) at least one of whom shall be a wildlife biologist.
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