Protecting American Competition Act of 2026
Latest action. Ordered to be Reported by the yeas and naysThe constitutional right of one-fifth of those present to force every member's vote onto the public record. The mechanism behind every roll call you can look up.Read the full definition (opens a new tab): 44 - 0.
Protecting American Competition Act of 2026
This bill establishes additional requirements for the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to review applications for export licenses and establishes related reporting requirements.
Specifically, the bill directs BIS, when reviewing an application for a license or other authorization for the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of controlled items, to consider whether the requested license or other authorization would be the initial license or other authorization for the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of the item to an ultimate consignee or end user.
After issuing an initial license or other authorization, BIS must attempt to administer in a timely manner any subsequent license application by a different applicant for the same or a similar item to the same ultimate consignee or end user as the initial license.
The bill requires BIS to submit annual reports to specified congressional committees on initial licenses granted by BIS. Additionally, BIS must report to Congress on how it is implementing the bill's provisions.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 15, 2026. 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 April 22, 2026: Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 44 - 0.
- 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 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 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?
Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced it on April 15, 2026, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
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 April 15, 2026, 148 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 141 days ago, on April 22, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 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