A House Judiciary subcommittee said Tuesday that federal agencies are not above the law and must start obeying legal precedents in civil matters.
The subcommittee did this in approving, by voice vote, legislation (H.R. 1924) and clearing it for full committee action.
Called the Federal Agency Compliance Act, the bill requires federal agencies to adhere to precedents set by decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the agency is located when it administers or enforces statutes, rules, regulations, programs or statutes.
The legislation, previously approved by the House, grew out of hearings that found that some agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Veterans Administration, were disregarding earlier court rulings and enforcing their own different rules. It costs millions of dollars to fight this so-called "non-acquiescence" practice in new litigation, according to backers of the bill.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., tried to amend the legislation sponsored by subcommittee chairman George Gekas, R-Pa., to limit the focus of the legislation to any federal agency that handles benefit programs, such as Social Security, veterans programs or Medicaid. But he was defeated on a voice vote.
The bill sent to the full committee was a substitute containing clarifications and technical changes to the original legislation.