FEES Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9536 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9536

  To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain rules
              relating to the payment of attorney's fees.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2026

  Mr. Tiffany (for himself and Ms. Hageman) introduced the following
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain rules
              relating to the payment of attorney's fees.

    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 ``Fixing Egregiously Expensive Suits
Act of 2026'' or as the ``FEES Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--
            (1) Eligibility parties.--Section 504(a)(1) of title 5,
        United States Code, is amended by inserting after ``prevailing
        party'' the following: ``who has a direct and personal monetary
        interest in the adjudication, including because of personal
        injury, private property damage, or unpaid agency
        disbursement,''.
            (2) Limitation on awards.--Section 504(a) of title 5,
        United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
        following:
    ``(5) A party may not receive an award of fees and other expenses
under this section--
            ``(A) in excess of $200,000 in any single adversary
        adjudication, or
            ``(B) for more than 3 adversary adjudications initiated in
        the same calendar year,
unless the prevailing party has filed and prevailed in a class action
lawsuit or the Social Security Administration or Department of Veterans
Affairs is a party in such action.''.
    (b) Civil Actions.--Section 2412(d)(1) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``in any civil action'' and all
                that follows through ``jurisdiction of that action''
                and inserting ``in the civil action''; and
                    (B) by striking ``shall award to a prevailing party
                other than the United States'' and inserting the
                following: ``, in any civil action (other than cases
                sounding in tort), including proceedings for judicial
                review of agency action, brought by or against the
                United States in any court having jurisdiction of that
                action, shall award to a prevailing party who has a
                direct and personal monetary interest in the civil
                action, including because of personal injury, private
                property damage, or unpaid agency disbursement, other
                than the United States,'';
            (2) in subparagraph (C)--
                    (A) by striking ``, in its discretion, may reduce
                the amount to be awarded pursuant to this subsection,
                or deny an award,'' and inserting ``shall reduce the
                amount to be awarded under this subsection, or deny an
                award, commensurate with pro bono hours and related
                fees and expenses, or'';
                    (B) by striking ``unduly and''; and
                    (C) by striking ``controversy.'' and inserting
                ``controversy or acted in an obdurate, dilatory,
                mendacious, or oppressive manner, or in bad faith.'';
                and
            (3) by adding at the end, the following:
                    ``(E) An individual or entity may not receive an
                award of fees and other expenses under this subsection
                in excess of--
                            ``(i) $200,000 in any single civil action,
                        or
                            ``(ii) for more than 3 civil actions
                        initiated in the same calendar year, unless the
                        prevailing party has filed and prevailed in a
                        class action lawsuit or the Social Security
                        Administration or Department of Veterans
                        Affairs is a party in such action.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by--
            (1) paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall apply
        with respect to adversary adjudications commenced on or after
        the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) subsection (b) shall apply with respect to civil
        actions commenced on or after such date of enactment.

SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS AND CONSENT DECREES.

    (a) Limitation on Attorneys' Fees and Litigation Costs.--A
settlement agreement or consent decree resulting in a regulation or
guidance document with respect to which a Federal agency is a party may
not include the payment of attorneys' fees or litigation costs.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Guidance document.--The term ``guidance document''--
                    (A) means an agency statement of general
                applicability (other than a regulation that has the
                force and effect of law promulgated in accordance with
                the notice and public procedure under section 553 of
                title 5, United States Code) that--
                            (i) does not have the force and effect of
                        law; and
                            (ii) sets forth--
                                    (I) an agency decision or a policy
                                on a statutory, regulatory, or
                                technical issue; or
                                    (II) an interpretation of a
                                statutory or regulatory issue; and
                    (B) may include--
                            (i) a memorandum;
                            (ii) a notice;
                            (iii) a bulletin;
                            (iv) a directive;
                            (v) a news release;
                            (vi) a letter;
                            (vii) a blog post;
                            (viii) a no-action letter;
                            (ix) a speech by an agency official;
                            (x) an advisory;
                            (xi) a manual;
                            (xii) a circular; or
                            (xiii) any combination of the items
                        described in clauses (i) through (xii).
            (2) Regulation.--The term ``regulation''--
                    (A) means an agency statement of general
                applicability and future effect, which the agency
                intends to have the force and effect of law, that is
                designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or
                policy or to describe the procedure or practice
                requirements of an agency;
                    (B) includes regulations issued pursuant to--
                            (i) an informal rulemaking under section
                        553 of title 5, United States Code;
                            (ii) a formal rulemaking under sections 556
                        and 557 of title 5, United States Code; and
                            (iii) any combination of the informal
                        rulemaking described in clause (i) and the
                        formal rulemaking described in clause (ii); and
                    (C) does not include--
                            (i) regulations that pertain to a military
                        or foreign affairs function of the United
                        States, other than procurement regulations and
                        regulations involving the import or export of
                        non-defense articles and services;
                            (ii) regulations or regulations that are
                        limited to agency organization, management, or
                        personnel matters; or
                            (iii) any other category of regulations
                        exempted by the Administrator of Office of
                        Information and Regulatory Affairs.

SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Interior shall assemble an independent
scientific panel to conduct an assessment of the impacts of the
provisions of this Act on the ecological, social, and economic
sustainability of federally managed lands; including factors
including--
            (1) Federal forest and rangeland health;
            (2) susceptibility of Federal forests and rangelands to
        catastrophic wildfire and insect infestation;
            (3) biological diversity;
            (4) watershed quality; and
            (5) economic productivity of Federal forests and
        rangelands.
    (b) Report.--The panel shall report its conclusions upon completion
of the assessment to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the Senate.
    (c) Scientific Panel Members.--The panel shall consist of 5
members, appointed by the Secretary--
            (1) at least two of whom shall be hunters or anglers;
            (2) at least one of whom shall be affiliated with the
        forest products industry;
            (3) at least one of whom shall be affiliated with a rural
        water utility; and
            (4) at least one of whom shall be a wildlife biologist.
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