Nov. 21, 2025 · by Amy West

The House was certainly back this week. A lot of legislative energy had been pent up for a very long time. Several bills passed unanimously or nearly so; several more were highly partisan while another batch were censure resolutions expressing various kinds of frustration, both partisan and personal. So, in general order of topic and level of support, here’s what the House was up to. Plus one Senate vote that sends a regulation nullification to the President for his signature.

Regular Bills

One bill listed below is now law; that’s the Epstein Files Transparency Act. All the rest are still early in the legislative process and are not yet law.

• H.R. 6019: To repeal certain provisions relating to notification to Senate offices regarding legal process on disclosure of Senate data, and for other purposes, which would repeal provisions in the continuing resolution that was just passed which would provide a small number of Senatorsan opportunity for significant payments from the government, passed426-0. It’s unknown whether this bill will receive a vote in the Senate or whether it will pass.

• H.R. 4405: Epstein Files Transparency Act passed427-1 on Tuesday, November 18. We talked about the bill and the legislative maneuvering involved in more detail inthis week’s preview. Since the preview, not only did the bill pass almost unanimously in the House, but the Senate passed it the same day by unanimous consent andthe President signed it on Wednesday, November 19.

• H.R. 1608: Department of Homeland Security Vehicular Terrorism Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2025, which would require a report on vehicular terrorism and methods of mitigating it, passed400-15.

• H.R. 2659: Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, which would establish an interagency task force and require a report on cyber resilience against state sponsored threats, passed402-8. 

• H.R. 4058: Enhancing Stakeholder Support and Outreach for Preparedness Grants Act, which would direct the Department of Homeland Security to extend stakeholder support and outreach for applicants and recipients of preparedness grants, passed380-45. 

• H.R. 5214: District of Columbia Cash Bail Reform Act of 2025, which would require pre-trial and pre-conviction mandatory detention as well as mandatory cash bail in the District of Columbia, passed237-179. This bill was in response toreforms made by local D.C. leaders in 2022.

• H.R. 5107: Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act of 2025, which is another bill that would repeal reforms made by local D.C. leaders, passed233-190

• H.R. 3109: REFINER Act, which would direct the National Petroleum Council (an industry trade group which acts as an advisory council to the Department of Energy) to issue a report with respect to petrochemical refinery capacity in the United States, passed230-176.

• H.R. 1949: Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025, which would repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas, passed217-188.

Regulation Nullifications

The last two of these three will now become law. The first still has to receive a vote in the Senate.

• H.J.Res. 131: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision” passed217-209.

• H.J.Res. 130: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment” passed214-212 on November 18. The Senate passed it51-43 on November 20 and now it next goes to the President to be signed into law.

• S.J.Res. 80: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision” passed216-209. It next goes to the President to be signed into law.

Censures

Censures are one of the three ways Congress can police the behavior of members. The other two are expulsion (extremely rare) and investigation by the House Ethics Committee (more common than censures or expulsions). We’ll have more to say about the rapid increase this Congress in censure/censure-like resolutions in a separate post, but for now we’ll list the votes for this week. They do not go to the Senate since they are exclusively about House matters and are not legislation that becomes law.

• H.Res. 878: Disapproving the behavior of Representative Jesús G. “Chuy” García of Illinois, which does what it says, passed236-183.Rep. Garciá chose to time his retirement announcement until after his preferred successor had submitted her own petition to get on the primary ballot and near the deadline for submitting petitions to be on the ballot. The end result is that his preferred successor is now the only person in the 2026 Democratic primary for his seat. This resolution was sponsored by fellow DemocratRep. Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA3). Yes, this is unusual.

• H.Res. 888: Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing failed209-214.Plaskett did text with Epstein, who, she noted, was a constituent at the time. A slight majority of the House felt that this didnot reflect discreditably on the House, or at least not so much to warrant a censure and removal from committee memberships. This resolution was sponsored byRep. Norman (R-SC5). Del. Plaskett is a Democrat, so a Republican sponsoring a censure is usual. Or it would be if it weren't one of a rash of them just this week.

• H.Res. 893: Censuring Representative Cory Mills of Florida and removing him from the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs was converted to a motion to refer the allegations in the censure resolution to the House Ethics Committee and passed310-103. Mills retains his committee memberships. Mills also alreadyhas been under investigation for different allegations for over a year. He further has an active restraining order against him as a direct result of an alleged and subsequently recanted assault on a woman in Washington, D.C. The censure resolution and new investigation rolls in the assault allegations as well as several campaign finance allegations. The Ethics Committee announced on November 19 that they areestablishing an Investigative Subcommittee and will announce members soon. The censure resolution was sponsored by fellow RepublicanRep. Mace (R-SC1). Yes, this is unusual.

Next Week

Both chambers of Congress are out for the Thanksgiving holiday and will return the week of December 1st.