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Stop Serial Litigation Act of 2026
Introduced Jun 11, 2026 · Last action Jun 11, 2026 — Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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Summary
This legislation is called the Stop Serial Litigation Act of 2026. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Full bill text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9295 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9295
To amend chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, and chapter 161 of
title 28, United States Code, to provide a maximum amount for the fees
and other expenses that may be awarded in connection with an agency
adjudication, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2026
Mr. Rulli introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, and chapter 161 of
title 28, United States Code, to provide a maximum amount for the fees
and other expenses that may be awarded in connection with an agency
adjudication, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Serial Litigation Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. FEES AND OTHER EXPENSES IN AGENCY ADJUDICATIONS.
Section 504 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the actual time
expended and the rate at which fees and other expenses
were computed'' and inserting ``the actual total time
expended, the rate at which fees and other expenses
were computed, the dates on which tasks were performed,
the actual time expended on each such task, and a
descriptor of each such task''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Except in the case of an adversary adjudication
conducted by the Veteran's Administration or the Social
Security Administration, an award of fees and other expenses
under this section may not exceed--
``(A) in the case of a party that is an
organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3))
exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code,
$300,000 during a 1-year period; or
``(B) in the case of a party that is any owner of
an unincorporated business, or any partnership,
corporation, association, unit of local government, or
organization, $300,000 during a 1-year period.''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by amending subparagraph (A)
to read as follows:
``(A) `fees and other expenses' includes the
reasonable expenses of expert witnesses, the reasonable
cost of any study, analysis, engineering report, test,
or project which is found by the agency to be necessary
for the preparation of the party's case, and reasonable
attorney or agent fees, and the amount of fees awarded
under this subsection shall be based upon prevailing
market rates for the kind and quality of the services
furnished, except that--
``(i) no expert witness shall be
compensated at a rate in excess of the highest
rate of compensation for expert witnesses paid
by the agency involved; and
``(ii) attorney or agent fees shall not be
awarded in excess of--
``(I) in the case of an adversary
adjudication conducted by the Veteran's
Administration or the Social Security
Administration, $125 per hour, unless
the agency determines by regulation
that an increase in the cost of living
or a special factor, such as the
limited availability of qualified
attorneys or agents for the proceedings
involved, justifies a higher fee; or
``(II) in the case of an adversary
adjudication conducted by any other
agency, $175 per hour (beginning in the
first fiscal year that begins 5 years
after the date of enactment of the Stop
Serial Litigation Act of 2026, adjusted
annually for inflation to the nearest
lower dollar increment to reflect
changes for the 12-month period ending
on the preceding June 30 in the
Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics of the Department of
Labor), except that the fees awarded
for the adjudication of the issue of
whether the position of the agency was
substantially justified or that special
circumstances make an award unjust
shall not be awarded in excess of the
amount that is half of the hourly fee
otherwise awarded;''.
SEC. 3. FEES AND OTHER EXPENSES IN CIVIL ACTIONS.
Section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
``(A) `fees and other expenses' includes the
reasonable expenses of expert witnesses, the reasonable
cost of any study, analysis, engineering report, test,
or project which is found by the court to be necessary
for the preparation of the party's case, and reasonable
attorney fees, and the amount of fees awarded under
this subsection shall be based upon prevailing market
rates for the kind and quality of the services
furnished, except that--
``(i) no expert witness shall be
compensated at a rate in excess of the highest
rate of compensation for expert witnesses paid
by the United States; and
``(ii) attorney fees shall not be awarded
in excess of--
``(I) in the case of a civil action
brought by or against the Veteran's
Administration or the Social Security
Administration, $125 per hour unless
the court determines that an increase
in the cost of living or a special
factor, such as the limited
availability of qualified attorneys for
the proceedings involved, justifies a
higher fee; or
``(II) in the case of a civil
action brought by or against any other
agency, $175 per hour (beginning in the
first fiscal year that begins 5 years
after the date of enactment of the Stop
Serial Litigation Act of 2026, adjusted
annually for inflation to the nearest
lower dollar increment to reflect
changes for the 12-month period ending
on the preceding June 30 in the
Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics of the Department of
Labor), except that the fees awarded
for the adjudication of the issue of
whether the position of the United
States was substantially justified or
that special circumstances make an
award unjust shall not be awarded in
excess of the amount that is half of
the hourly fee otherwise awarded;'';
and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``the actual
time expended and the rate at which fees and other
expenses were computed'' and inserting ``the actual
total time expended, the rate at which fees and other
expenses were computed, the dates on which tasks were
performed, the actual time expended on each such task,
and a descriptor of each such task''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) Except in the case of a civil action brought by or
against the Veteran's Administration or the Social Security
Administration, an award of fees and other expenses under this
section may not exceed--
``(A) in the case of a party that is an
organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3))
exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code,
$300,000 during a 1-year period; or
``(B) in the case of a party that is any owner of
an unincorporated business, or any partnership,
corporation, association, unit of local government, or
organization, $300,000 during a 1-year period.''.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
Timeline reflects current normalized status only. Full action history is not yet stored in the API.
Sponsors
- Rep. Rulli, Michael A. [R-OH-6]RHouseOH
Cosponsors
Votes
Voting records are not yet available for this bill.