PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] · D–MI
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jun 9, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-06 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed CLEAR Act would extend federal freedom-of-information coverage to entities established under a specified federal law. This would affect people requesting records from those entities. The change would cover requests made on or after enactment, including requests for records created earlier.
This Act may be cited as the Consistent Legal Expectations and Access to Records Act or the CLEAR Act.
Section 552(f)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after in the Executive Office of the President the following: , and any entity established under section 3161 of this title.
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to any request made under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, on or after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of when the records requested were created.
Section 2(a) would add “any entity established under section 3161” of title 5 to section 552(f)(1), inserting that language after the reference to the Executive Office of the President. The provision identifies covered entities by their legal authority rather than naming particular organizations.
Section 552(f)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after in the Executive Office of the President the following: , and any entity established under section 3161 of this title.
The proposed change would apply based on when a records request is made: requests made on or after enactment would be covered regardless of the records’ creation date.
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to any request made under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, on or after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of when the records requested were created.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated June 9, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 6, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-06-09T17:48:38Z. 2025-02-06: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 2025-02-06: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-06. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential benefit, carve-out, or special exemption was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jun 9, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI