Architect of the Capitol Appointment Act of 2023

IB Union Calendar No. 766 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3196 [Report No. 118–741, Part I] To provide for the appointment of the Architect of the Capitol, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. STEIL (for himself and Mr. MORELLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned NOVEMBER 18, 2024 Reported from the Committee on House Administration NOVEMBER 18, 2024 Referral to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure extended for a period ending not later than December 19, 2024 DECEMBER 19, 2024 Additional sponsors: Mr. LOUDERMILK and Mrs. BICE DECEMBER 19, 2024 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3196 RH A BILL To provide for the appointment of the Architect of the Capitol, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3196 RH 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 ‘‘Architect of the Capitol 4 Appointment Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF SERVICE OF ARCHI- 6 TECT OF THE CAPITOL. 7 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The Architect of the Capitol 8 shall be appointed, without regard to political affiliation 9 and solely on the basis of fitness to perform the duties 10 of the office, upon a majority vote of a congressional com- 11 mission (referred to in this section as the ‘‘commission’’) 12 consisting of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 13 the majority leader of the Senate, the minority leaders of 14 the House of Representatives and Senate, the chair and 15 ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropria- 16 tions of the House of Representatives, the chairman and 17 ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropria- 18 tions of the Senate, the chair and ranking minority mem- 19 ber of the Committee on House Administration of the 20 House of Representatives, and the chairman and ranking 21 minority member of the Committee on Rules and Adminis- 22 tration of the Senate. 23 (b) TERM OF SERVICE.—The Architect of the Capitol 24 shall be appointed for a term of 10 years and, upon a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3196 RH majority vote of the members of the commission, may be 1 reappointed for additional 10-year terms. 2 (c) REMOVAL.—The Architect of the Capitol may be 3 removed from office at any time upon a majority vote of 4 the members of the commission. 5 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 6 (1) Section 319 of the Legislative Branch Ap- 7 propriations Act, 1990 (2 U.S.C. 1801) is repealed. 8 (2) The matter under the heading ‘‘FOR THE 9 CAPITOL:’’ under the heading ‘‘DEPARTMENT OF 10 THE INTERIOR.’’ of the Act of February 14, 1902 11 (32 Stat. 19, chapter 17; incorporated in 2 U.S.C. 12 1811) is amended by striking ‘‘, and he shall be ap- 13 pointed by the President’’. 14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend- 15 ments made by this section, shall apply with respect to 16 appointments made on or after the date of enactment of 17 this Act. 18 SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY ARCHITECT OF THE 19 CAPITOL; VACANCY IN ARCHITECT OR DEP- 20 UTY ARCHITECT. 21 Section 1203 of title I of division H of the Consoli- 22 dated Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (2 U.S.C. 1805) 23 is amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3196 RH (A) by inserting ‘‘(in this section referred 1 to as the ‘Architect’)’’ after ‘‘The Architect of 2 the Capitol’’; and 3 (B) by inserting ‘‘(in this section referred 4 to as the ‘Deputy Architect’)’’ after ‘‘Deputy 5 Architect of the Capitol’’; 6 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 7 section (c); 8 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE.—The Architect shall appoint a Dep- 11 uty Architect under subsection (a) not later than 120 days 12 after— 13 ‘‘(1) the date on which the Architect is ap- 14 pointed under section 2 of the Architect of the Cap- 15 itol Appointment Act of 2023, if there is no Deputy 16 Architect on the date of the appointment; or 17 ‘‘(2) the date on which a vacancy arises in the 18 office of the Deputy Architect.’’; 19 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by 20 striking ‘‘of the Capitol’’ each place it appears; and 21 (5) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(d) FAILURE TO APPOINT.—If the Architect does 23 not appoint a Deputy Architect on or before the applicable 24 date specified in subsection (b), the congressional commis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3196 RH sion described in section 2(a) of the Architect of the Cap- 1 itol Appointment Act of 2023 shall appoint the Deputy 2 Architect by a majority vote of the members of the com- 3 mission. 4 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION.—If the position of Deputy Ar- 5 chitect becomes vacant, the Architect shall immediately 6 notify the members of the congressional commission de- 7 scribed in section 2(a) of the Architect of the Capitol Ap- 8 pointment Act of 2023.’’. 9 SEC. 4. DEPUTY ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL TO SERVE AS 10 ACTING IN CASE OF ABSENCE, DISABILITY, 11 OR VACANCY. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Architect of the Cap- 13 itol (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Deputy Architect’’) 14 shall act as Architect of the Capitol (in this section re- 15 ferred to as the ‘‘Architect’’) if the Architect is absent or 16 disabled or there is no Architect. 17 (b) ABSENCE, DISABILITY, OR VACANCY IN OFFICE 18 OF DEPUTY ARCHITECT.—For purposes of subsection (a), 19 if the Deputy Architect is also absent or disabled or there 20 is no Deputy Architect, the congressional commission de- 21 scribed in section 2(a) shall designate, by a majority vote 22 of the members of the commission, an individual to serve 23 as acting Architect until— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3196 RH (1) the end of the absence or disability of the 1 Architect or the Deputy Architect; or 2 (2) in the case of vacancies in both positions, 3 an Architect has been appointed under section 2(a) 4 of this Act. 5 (c) AUTHORITY.—An officer serving as acting Archi- 6 tect under subsection (a) or (b) shall perform all the duties 7 and exercise all the authorities of the Architect, including 8 the authority to delegate the duties and authorities of the 9 Architect in accordance with the matter under the heading 10 ‘‘OFFICE OF THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL’’ under 11 the heading ‘‘ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL’’ of the 12 Legislative Appropriation Act, 1956 (2 U.S.C. 1803). 13 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The matter under 14 the heading ‘‘SALARIES’’ under the heading ‘‘OFFICE OF 15 THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL’’ under the heading 16 ‘‘ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL’’ of the Legislative 17 Branch Appropriation Act, 1971 (2 U.S.C. 1804) is 18 amended by striking ‘‘: Provided,’’ and all that follows 19 through ‘‘no Architect’’. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 766 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3196 [Report No. 118–741, Part I] A BILL To provide for the appointment of the Architect of the Capitol, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 19, 2024 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure dis- charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Dec 24, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS