United States HRES 892: Authorizing the Speaker of the House of Representatives to initiate or intervene in civil actions on behalf of the House of Representatives regarding section 213 of title II of division C of the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026.

Bill Text

IV
119TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. RES. 892
Authorizing the Speaker of the House of Representatives to initiate or inter-
vene in civil actions on behalf of the House of Representatives regarding
section 213 of title II of division C of the Continuing Appropriations,
Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Af-
fairs, and Extensions Act, 2026.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 19, 2025
Mr. ROSE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on House Administra-
tion, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
the committee concerned
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Speaker of the House of Representatives
to initiate or intervene in civil actions on behalf of the
House of Representatives regarding section 213 of title
II of division C of the Continuing Appropriations, Agri-
culture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and
Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026.
Whereas section 213 of title II of division C of the Con-
tinuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch,
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Exten-
sions Act, 2026, and amendments made by such section,
provide for financial awards to Members of the Senate
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•HRES 892 IH
under circumstances that experts have said defy typical
legal concepts;
Whereas the 27th Amendment to the Constitution states:
‘‘No law, varying the compensation for the services of the
Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an
election of Representatives shall have intervened.’’; and
Whereas a credible argument exists that the financial provi-
sions contained in such section 213 constitute a variation
in compensation for Senators, potentially violating the re-
quirements of the 27th Amendment: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, 1
SECTION 1. CIVIL ACTION. 2
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is au-3
thorized to initiate or intervene in one or more civil actions 4
in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction, on behalf of 5
the House of Representatives, to argue that section 213 6
of title II of division C of the Continuing Appropriations, 7
Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction 8
and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, and the 9
amendments made by such section, violate the 27th 10
Amendment to the United States Constitution. 11
SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION. 12
The Speaker shall notify the House of Representa-13
tives of any decision to initiate or intervene in any civil 14
action pursuant to this resolution. 15
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SEC. 3. PROCESS FOR CIVIL ACTION. 1
(a) REPRESENTATION BY GENERAL COUNSEL.—The 2
Office of the General Counsel of the House of Representa-3
tives, at the direction of the Speaker, shall represent the 4
House in any civil action initiated, or in which the House 5
intervenes, pursuant to this resolution, and may employ 6
the services of outside counsel and other experts for this 7
purpose. 8
(b) STATEMENT OF COSTS OF OUTSIDE COUNSEL 9
AND EXPERTS.—Not later than 30 days after the last day 10
of each calendar quarter in which the Office of General 11
Counsel employed the services of outside counsel or other 12
experts pursuant to subsection (a), the chair of the Com-13
mittee on House Administration shall cause to be printed 14
in the Congressional Record a statement setting forth the 15
aggregate amounts expended by such Office for such serv-16
ices. 17
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO INFORM. 18
The Speaker shall keep the House regularly informed 19
about developments in any litigation initiated, or in which 20
the House intervenes, pursuant to this resolution. 21
SEC. 5. DEMAND FOR REIMBURSEMENT. 22
In the event that section 213 of title II of division 23
C of the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legisla-24
tive Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, 25
and Extensions Act, 2026, is held to be unconstitutional 26
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in any ruling made in response to litigation initiated, or 1
in which the House intervenes, pursuant to this resolution, 2
the Speaker is authorized to— 3
(1) tally all costs incurred by the House of Represent-4
atives related to such litigation, including legal fees, ex-5
penses for outside counsel and other experts, and related 6
administrative costs; and 7
(2) send a formal letter to the majority leader of the 8
Senate demanding that the Senate reimburse the House 9
of Representatives for all such litigation-related costs