Ensuring Access to Justice for Claims Against the United States Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 488.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Ensuring Access to Justice for Claims Against the United States Act - Amends the federal judicial code with respect to the jurisdiction of federal courts over civil actions pending in, or on appeal from, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (USCFC) when the plaintiff also has pending in another federal court a civil action that includes a claim against the United States (or an agency or officer of the United States) arising from the same set of operative facts.
Requires the court presiding over the action that was filed later to stay the later action until the action that was filed first is no longer pending. (Currently, the USCFC is prohibited from having jurisdiction of any claim in which the plaintiff has pending in any other court any suit or process against the United States or any person who was acting or professing to act under the authority of the United States.)
Provides an exception to the requirement to stay the later action if: (1) the parties in each of the actions agree, or (2) the required stay is not in the interests of justice.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House without amendment" stage on December 8, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 8, 2014: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 488.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Ron DeSantis (R-FL) introduced it on November 12, 2014, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 12, 2014, 4320 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4294 days ago, on December 8, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers