The Congressional Review Act (CRA) of 1996, codified at 5 U.S.C. §§ 801–808, is a federal statute that allows Congress to disapprove newly finalized agency rules within a narrow, time-limited window after issuance, using expedited procedures under which a simple majority suffices in each chamber (The SANDBOX Act Uses AI Policy as a Trojan Horse for Unfettered Deregulation (Center for American Progress, September 2026)).
Definition of "rule"
Section 804(3) defines "rule" by incorporating the Administrative Procedure Act definition at 5 U.S.C. § 551, which covers "the whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy," and then excludes three categories: rules of particular applicability, rules relating to agency management or personnel, and rules of agency organization, procedure or practice that do not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-agency parties. As summarized by a September 2026 Center for American Progress report, what remains are agency rules of general applicability that shape the legal or economic obligations of the public (The SANDBOX Act Uses AI Policy as a Trojan Horse for Unfettered Deregulation (Center for American Progress, September 2026)).
Use in AI legislation
Sen. Ted Cruz's SANDBOX Act defines the "covered provisions" eligible for waiver by reference to the § 804(3) definition, adding associated guidance, FAQs, bulletins and derivative material, and rules whose adoption a statute expressly requires. Its Section 703 creates a separate expedited joint-resolution procedure through which Congress would act on the OSTP director's annual recommendations to repeal or amend covered provisions, with committee discharge after 10 legislative days and a 60-legislative-day window for action (Source: congress.gov). The Center for American Progress argues that this mechanism "borrows the language of congressional review" but differs from the CRA in reaching existing rules "regardless of how long they have been in force," rather than only newly finalized ones (The SANDBOX Act Uses AI Policy as a Trojan Horse for Unfettered Deregulation (Center for American Progress, September 2026)).
Relationships
- related: SANDBOX Act (S. 2750) — borrows the § 804(3) definition and a CRA-style expedited procedure
- related: Nondelegation Doctrine
- related: The SANDBOX Act Uses AI Policy as a Trojan Horse for Unfettered Deregulation (Center for American Progress, September 2026)