Summary: HRES 369 — Expressing the sense of the House that the Secretary of Health and Human Services should withdraw a reduction in public notice and comment opportunities

What the bill is

• Type: House Resolution (non-binding)
• Bill Number: HRES 369
• Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Health and Human Services should withdraw a reduction in public notice and comment opportunities.
• Introduced: May 1, 2025
• Status: Submitted in the House and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
• Primary sponsor: Lizzie Fletcher (with numerous cosponsors listed)
• Related companion: SRES 198 (Senate)

Purpose and intent

The resolution expresses the sense of the House that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) should withdraw a March 3, 2025 Federal Register notice (90 Fed. Reg. 11029) that would reduce opportunities for public notice and comment in HHS rulemaking. It also asks to affirm practices in effect on February 27, 2025, which involved public participation in the rulemaking process. In short, the measure seeks to reverse a proposed change to public involvement in regulatory rulemaking and maintain the prior level of public participation.

Key provisions

• Withdraw the March 3, 2025 Federal Register notice from HHS that purportedly reduces public notice and comment opportunities.
• Affirm or restore the rulemaking practices that were in effect as of February 27, 2025, ensuring continued public involvement.
• Declare as a matter of House sentiment that HHS should adhere to these practices and not implement the reduction proposed in the March 3, 2025 notice.

Note: As a sense resolution, the text expresses the views/intent of the House and does not itself create or modify law or require agency action beyond the express urging.

Who or what would be affected

• Primary impact: HHS and its rulemaking processes, specifically the public notice-and-comment procedures governing regulatory actions.
• Wider impact: Public stakeholders, including individuals, organizations, and entities affected by HHS regulations, who rely on public participation to influence rulemaking.
• Political/oversight dimension: Signals House Congress’s opposition to changes that reduce public engagement in rulemaking.

Procedural and timeline aspects

• Introduced: May 1, 2025
• Referral: House Committee on the Judiciary
• Status: At the committee stage; no floor passage data available in the provided information
• Related action: Companion bill in the Senate is SRES 198

Context and potential impact

• The bill is non-binding and serves as political messaging, indicating House support for maintaining existing public participation practices in HHS rulemaking.
• If enacted into law, a sense resolution would carry no enforceable requirements, but it could influence executive branch considerations, oversight, or subsequent rulemaking discussions.
• The companion Senate bill (SRES 198) suggests parallel attention in the other chamber.

Summary

HRES 369 conveys the House’s sense that HHS should withdraw the March 3, 2025 notice reducing public notice and comment opportunities and should maintain the public-involvement practices that were in place on February 27, 2025. It is a non-binding expression of opinion, currently referred to the Judiciary Committee, with a companion Senate measure (SRES 198) existing.