Separation of Powers Restoration Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 909 To amend title 5, United States Code, with respect to the judicial review of agency interpretations of statutory and regulatory provisions. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 27, 2019 Mr. SASSE (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. LEE, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, with respect to the judicial review of agency interpretations of statutory and regulatory provisions. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Separation of Powers 4 Restoration Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF STATUTORY AND REGU- 6 LATORY INTERPRETATIONS. 7 Section 706 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 8 ed— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S909.IS S909 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 909 IS (1) by striking ‘‘To the extent necessary’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘(a) To the extent necessary’’; 2 (2) in subsection (a), as so designated— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘decide all relevant ques- 4 tions of law, interpret constitutional and statu- 5 tory provisions, and’’; and 6 (B) by inserting after ‘‘of the terms of an 7 agency action’’ the following: ‘‘and decide de 8 novo all relevant questions of law, including the 9 interpretation of constitutional and statutory 10 provisions, and rules made by agencies. If the 11 reviewing court determines that a statutory or 12 regulatory provision relevant to its decision con- 13 tains a gap or ambiguity, the court shall not in- 14 terpret that gap or ambiguity as an implicit del- 15 egation to the agency of legislative rule making 16 authority and shall not rely on the gap or ambi- 17 guity as a justification for interpreting agency 18 authority expansively or for deferring to the 19 agency’s interpretation on the question of law. 20 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 21 this subsection shall apply in any action for ju- 22 dicial review of agency action authorized under 23 any provision of law. No law may exempt any 24 such civil action from the application of this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S909.IS S909 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 909 IS section except by specific reference to this sec- 1 tion’’; and 2 (3) by striking ‘‘The reviewing court shall—’’ 3 and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘(b) The reviewing court shall—’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S909.IS S909 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS