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Bill

HR 6329

Information Quality Assurance Act of 2025

119th Congress Introduced by Lisa McClain and 1 co-sponsor

Requires federal agencies to disclose the critical facts and sources behind rules, improve data quality, and enable public corrections to influential information.

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
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Bill Summary · HR 6329

Summary: Information Quality Assurance Act of 2025 (H.R. 6329)

Purpose and intent

The Information Quality Assurance Act of 2025 would tighten and standardize how federal agencies use, disclose, and verify the quality of information used to develop rules and guidance. The bill aims to ensure agencies rely on the best reasonably available scientific, technical, demographic, economic, and statistical data and evidence, and to increase transparency for the public about the information behind regulatory actions.

Key provisions

1) Updating and publishing information quality guidelines

  • Within 1 year of enactment, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must:
    • Update the guidelines under the Information Quality Act to strengthen policy and procedures ensuring the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of influential information or evidence used to develop rules or guidance, or disseminated to inform the public.
    • Ensure updates align with the Information Quality Act as amended and with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Act of 2018.
    • Make the updated guidelines available on the OMB website.

2) Agency-specific implementation

  • Within 1 year after the Director updates the guidelines, each agency head must:
    • Update the agency’s Information Quality Act guidelines to require reliance on the best reasonably available information for influential information and evidence used in rulemaking or guidance.
    • Publish the updated agency guidelines on the agency’s website.
    • Ensure administrative mechanisms exist to seek corrections of influential information or evidence disseminated by the agency that does not comply with the new guidelines.
    • Include in the agency’s Information Quality Act report any complaints about the accuracy of influential information or evidence used in rulemaking or guidance.

3) Public disclosure requirements

  • The Director must issue guidance directing agencies to publicly disclose, in rulemaking dockets or administrative records for guidance, the following:
    • The critical factual material relied upon in making the rule or guidance.
    • Citations to other sources used, including public comments referenced in final actions.
  • Process for disclosure:
    • If an agency uses notice-and-comment rulemaking or provides for public comment on proposed guidance, the agency must provide notice and an opportunity to comment on the critical factual material.
    • If the critical material is revised in a way that could affect the rulemaking or guidance after notice, the revision must be made available in the docket/record in a timely manner.

4) Implementation considerations

  • Agencies must implement the disclosure and accessibility requirements consistent with existing statutory rights under the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, and related laws, while balancing costs where feasible.
  • Prohibitions on disclosure remain in place for information that is legally prohibited from public release.

Who is affected

  • Primary: Heads of federal agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
  • Secondary: Public commenters and stakeholders who rely on agency rulemaking and guidance, as well as researchers and entities providing information used in federal regulatory processes.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Introduced: May 13, 2025.
  • Status: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held (as of December 2, 2025).
  • Key deadlines:
    • Within 1 year of enactment: Director updates the guidelines and places them on the OMB website.
    • Within 1 year after the Director’s update: Agencies update and publish their own guidelines, and establish correction mechanisms and reporting on complaints.
    • Public disclosure guidance would be issued within 1 year after enactment.

Potential impacts

  • Increased transparency about the data and sources behind federal rules and guidance.
  • Higher standards for the quality and fit-for-purpose use of information in rulemaking.
  • Additional compliance requirements and potential administrative costs for agencies to gather, organize, and disclose critical material and citations.
  • Greater public ability to challenge or request corrections to influential information used in regulatory actions.

This summary reflects the text and provisions available from the bill as introduced and discussed in committee.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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