H.R. 3950House115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

Judicial Review Improvement Act of 2017

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 6:20 PM UTC

The Judicial Review Improvement Act of 2017 would change how federal courts review actions taken by certain financial‑regulatory agencies. It requires courts to decide all legal questions about an agency action from scratch, without giving deference to the agency’s own interpretations, and it blocks courts from treating unclear statutory language as giving the agency extra rule‑making power. The rule applies to a specific list of agencies, affecting how their regulations and decisions can be challenged in court.

Key Provisions

In any court case reviewing an agency action, the court must interpret the meaning of the agency’s terms and decide all relevant legal questions de novo, including constitutional and statutory issues.
If a statute or regulation is ambiguous, the court cannot assume the agency has been given implicit rule‑making authority, nor can it rely on that ambiguity to expand the agency’s power or defer to the agency’s legal interpretation.
The Act applies to judicial reviews of agency actions under any law, and no other law can exempt a civil action from these requirements unless it specifically references this Act.
The term “agency” for this purpose is limited to the Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, FDIC, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, National Credit Union Administration, and the SEC.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.

Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee

October 16, 2017

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

October 4, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

October 4, 2017

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.

Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee

October 16, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued October 4, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3950

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 4, 2017

Mrs. Love (for herself, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Walker, Mr. Gowdy, Mr. Labrador, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Hill, and Mr. Luetkemeyer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To specify the scope of judicial review of certain agency actions, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Judicial Review Improvement Act of 2017.

Scope of judicial review of agency actions

(a)

In general

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any judicial review of an agency action pursuant to chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, to the extent necessary to decide when presented, the reviewing court shall determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action and decide de novo all relevant questions of law, including the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions and rules made by an agency. If the reviewing court determines that a statutory or regulatory provision relevant to its decision contains a gap or ambiguity, the court shall not interpret that gap or ambiguity as an implicit delegation to the agency of legislative rulemaking authority and shall not rely on such gap or ambiguity as a justification either for interpreting agency authority expansively or for deferring to the agency’s interpretation on the question of law. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this Act shall apply in any action for judicial review of agency action authorized under any provision of law. No law may exempt any such civil action from the application of this Act except by specific reference to this Act.

(b)

Agency defined

For purposes of this section, the term agency means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.