H.R. 5799: Fast Action for Lawful Compliance with Oversight Needs Act of 2025 (119th Congress) Bill Summary

This bill, titled the Fast Action for Lawful Compliance with Oversight Needs Act of 2025, aims to enhance the cooperation between federal agencies and their Inspectors General (IGs). Here are the key elements of the bill:

Cooperation with Inspector General Requests

The bill requires that any officer or employee of a covered agency must comply with requests from an Inspector General within 60 days. This includes:

Heads of agencies
Political appointees
Grant recipients
Contractors and their subcontractors

Administrative Discipline

If an individual or entity fails to comply with an IG's request, they may face various forms of administrative discipline, including:

Suspension or removal without pay, if warranted
Adverse actions related to contracts

This disciplinary action is determined by the head of the relevant agency or, in the case of agency heads, by the President.

Notification of Noncompliance

If an Inspector General finds that an individual or entity has not complied with a request, they must notify the appropriate congressional committees within 30 days. The notification will include:

The job title or name of the non-compliant individual/entity
The date of the original request
The general subject matter of the request

The notification will be unclassified but may have a classified annex with more details.

Definitions

The bill also defines certain terms to clarify who and what it covers:

Covered agency: Refers to federal establishments and designated entities.
Covered request: This is a request for information or assistance related to oversight, excluding certain classifications of information.
Inspector General: This refers to the internal watchdogs of the covered agencies, responsible for oversight and accountability.

Directives to Agency Personnel

The heads of covered agencies are required to inform their personnel about the new compliance requirements within 30 days of the Act's enactment. They must clarify that failure to comply with an IG's request could lead to disciplinary actions.

Technical Amendments

The bill includes technical amendments, such as updating the table of contents for related legal codes and defining what is meant by "appropriate congressional committees" that will be informed of noncompliance.