H.R. 9643 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the House, sent to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jul 13, 2026
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryReduces clutter from mass comments in rule reviews
When federal agencies ask for public input on new rules, they get flooded with comments—sometimes thousands of identical or computer-generated ones. This bill requires agencies to check if comments actually come from real people, spot when many comments are the same, and then publish only one sample copy instead of all of them. Agencies would also have to say how many identical comments they received. The government would create a system to help with this and study how computer-generated comments affect the rulemaking process.
How it affects you
This mostly affects how federal agencies handle their public input process behind the scenes. If you submit a genuine comment on a proposed rule, it shouldn't directly change your experience. But the change could make it easier for regulators to actually read and consider individual comments from real people, rather than sorting through thousands of duplicates or bot-generated submissions that might drown out genuine public voices.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Jul 13, 2026)
Comment Integrity and Management Act
This bill establishes requirements with respect to the submission of mass comments and computer-generated comments in the federal rulemaking process.
Specifically, the bill requires federal agencies to verify, to the greatest extent possible at the time a public comment is submitted, whether the comment has been submitted by a human being.
An agency also must determine whether comments are mass comments and may publish on the docket only a single representative copy of such comments or a single copy of one variation of mass comments that use standardized but not identical language. If the agency publishes only a single copy of a mass comment, the agency also must indicate the number of mass comments submitted that were identical or substantively identical to the representative copy or variation that the agency published.
Additionally, each agency must establish a policy with respect to the posting and consideration of computer-generated comments and mass-comments during the agency's rulemaking process.
The Office of Management and Budget must issue guidance for implementing the requirements of the bill, and the Government Accountability Office must report on the identification and effect of computer-generated comments in the rulemaking process. Additionally, the General Services Administration must update regulations.gov and the eRulemaking system as necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements the bill.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
2nd SessionH. R. 9643
A BILL
Comment Integrity and Management Act
Sponsor: Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA-3) · Introduced Jul 13, 2026 · Government Operations and Politics · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jul 22, 2026: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 24 - 19.”