Accountability for Acting Officials Act
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Accountability for Acting Officials Act
This bill makes a series of changes with respect to the appointment, tenure, and qualifications of acting officials of executive agencies.
Among other things, the bill specifies that, for a position that requires an appointment by the President (by and with the advice and consent of the Senate),
the first assistant to the office may temporarily fill the position only if the individual has been the first assistant for at least 30 days during the preceding year;
an officer or employee of the agency who is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position may only do so if the officer or employee has served at the agency for at least the entire preceding year (rather than 90 days); and
an individual who is a presidential appointee and is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position, including an acting Inspector General, must possess the requisite qualifications for the position as provided by law or regulation.
The bill also limits the tenure of acting heads of agencies to no more than 120 days (rather than 210 days).
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 1, 2020. 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 May 1, 2020: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
- 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 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
Katie Porter (D-CA) introduced it on May 1, 2020, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 8 Democrats.
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 May 1, 2020, 2323 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2323 days ago, on May 1, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 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