ARTICLE ONE Act
Key claim: This House bill would automatically end a presidential national emergency after 30 days unless Congress votes to approve it, reversing the current rule that emergencies last until Congress votes them down.
Abstract
(HR3988 · 118th Congress) Assuring that Robust, Thorough, and Informed Congressional Leadership is Exercised Over National Emergencies Act or the ARTICLE ONE Act This bill terminates a presidential declaration of a national emergency after 30 days if Congress does not pass a joint resolution approving the declaration. Currently, such a declaration may continue until Congress passes a joint resolution disapproving the declaration. The bill requires the President to transmit to Congress, with any proclamation declaring a national emergency or executive order specifying emergency powers or authorities or renewing a national emergency, a written report that includes a description of the circumstances necessitating the declaration, renewal, or use of a new emergency authority specified in the executive order; the estimated duration of the emergency, or a statement that the duration cannot reasonably be estimated; a summary of the actions the President or other officers intend to take and the statutory authorities they expect to rely on in addressing the emergency; and in the case of a renewal of the emergency, a summary of the actions the President or other officers have taken in the preceding one-year period to address the emergency. The bill requires periodic reports on the status of emergencies. Latest action (2024-12-19): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 764.
Why this matters
Presidential emergency declarations currently underpin a wide range of sanctions, export controls, and security authorities across this area, and they persist by default because Congress rarely musters a joint resolution to end them. Flipping the default to require affirmative congressional approval within 30 days would materially reshape the fiscal and operational reliability of programs built on IEEPA and NEA authorities, from OFAC sanctions regimes to sector-specific security emergencies.