HR 1835 · 119th Congress 2025–2027

MERIT Act

Introduced Mar 4, 2025 Originated House Sponsor LaMonica McIver D-NJ

Latest action · Mar 4, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedMar 4, 2025
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Cosponsors 109

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 4, 2025 to Nov 10, 2026; 71 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-WA	Adam Smith	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Adriano Espaillat	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NC	Alma S. Adams	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IN	André Carson	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MA	Ayanna Pressley	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MS	Bennie G. Thompson	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MN	Betty McCollum	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NJ	Bonnie Watson Coleman	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CO	Brittany Pettersen	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-LA	Cleo Fields	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IL	Danny K. Davis	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IL	Delia C. Ramirez	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NV	Dina Titus	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-VA	Donald S. Beyer, Jr.	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-PA	Dwight Evans	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MO	Emanuel Cleaver	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-FL	Frederica S. Wilson	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	George Latimer	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MD	Glenn Ivey	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Grace Meng	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-OH	Greg Landsman	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Gregory W. Meeks	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NJ	Herbert C. Conaway, Jr.	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MA	James P. McGovern	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-TX	Jasmine Crockett	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-VA	Jennifer L. McClellan	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IL	Jesús G. "Chuy" García	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-HI	Jill N. Tokuda	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Jimmy Panetta	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	John W. Mannion	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MD	Johnny Olszewski, Jr.	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IL	Jonathan L. Jackson	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Juan Vargas	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Judy Chu	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Lateefah Simon	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IL	Lauren Underwood	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MA	Lori Trahan	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-PA	Madeleine Dean	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-WI	Mark Pocan	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-PA	Mary Gay Scanlon	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Maxine Waters	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Nanette Diaz Barragán	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-GA	Nikema Williams	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Norma J. Torres	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Nydia M. Velázquez	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-PR	Pablo José Hernández	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Paul Tonko	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-WA	Pramila Jayapal	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MI	Rashida Tlaib	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Ro Khanna	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-CA	Robert Garcia	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-IL	Robin L. Kelly	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-GA	Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-FL	Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-OH	Shontel M. Brown	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MI	Shri Thanedar	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-TN	Steve Cohen	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-PA	Summer L. Lee	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-TX	Sylvester Turner	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Timothy M. Kennedy	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-LA	Troy A. Carter	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NC	Valerie P. Foushee	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-MO	Wesley Bell	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-AZ	Yassamin Ansari	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-NY	Yvette D. Clarke	Original	Mar 4, 2025
D-WA	Suzan K. DelBene		Mar 10, 2025
D-TX	Veronica Escobar		Mar 10, 2025
D-MA	Stephen F. Lynch		Mar 11, 2025
D-PA	Brendan F. Boyle		Mar 18, 2025
D-NY	Daniel S. Goldman		Mar 18, 2025
D-FL	Darren Soto		Mar 18, 2025
D-NC	Deborah K. Ross		Mar 18, 2025
D-IL	Eric Sorensen		Mar 18, 2025
D-CA	J. Luis Correa		Mar 18, 2025
D-CT	Jahana Hayes		Mar 18, 2025
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky		Mar 18, 2025
D-NY	Jerrold Nadler		Mar 18, 2025
D-TX	Lizzie Fletcher		Mar 18, 2025
D-VI	Stacey E. Plaskett		Mar 18, 2025
D-CA	Eric Swalwell		Mar 21, 2025
D-TX	Julie Johnson		Mar 21, 2025
D-CA	Mark DeSaulnier		Mar 21, 2025
D-NJ	Robert Menendez		Mar 21, 2025
D-CA	Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr.		Mar 25, 2025
D-AZ	Greg Stanton		Mar 25, 2025
D-AL	Shomari Figures		Mar 31, 2025
D-NM	Teresa Leger Fernandez		Mar 31, 2025
D-AL	Terri A. Sewell		Apr 1, 2025
D-MI	Debbie Dingell		Apr 3, 2025
D-NJ	Frank Pallone, Jr.		Apr 3, 2025
D-IL	Mike Quigley		Apr 7, 2025
D-IL	Raja Krishnamoorthi		Apr 7, 2025
D-CO	Joe Neguse		Apr 8, 2025
D-MD	Sarah Elfreth		Apr 8, 2025
D-WA	Emily Randall		Apr 28, 2025
D-NM	Melanie A. Stansbury		Apr 28, 2025
D-VA	Suhas Subramanyam		Apr 28, 2025
D-CO	Diana DeGette		Jun 3, 2025
D-MD	Kweisi Mfume		Jun 3, 2025
D-CA	Ted Lieu		Jun 3, 2025
D-CA	Jared Huffman		Jul 22, 2025
D-MI	Haley M. Stevens		Dec 9, 2025
D-NJ	Josh Gottheimer		Nov 10, 2026

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Oversight and Government Reform Committee	Referred Mar 4, 2025
House	Ways and Means Committee	Referred Mar 4, 2025

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

Mar 4, 2025Introduced in House
Mar 4, 2025Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Spending Clause, Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 Necessary and Proper Clause, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 41, March 4, 2025, page H976.

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To require the reinstatement of recently terminated probationary Federal employees, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: MERIT Act; Model Employee Reinstatement for Ill-advised Termination Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Mar 4, 2025Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.