One Subject at a Time Act

This bill proposes a significant change to how Congress writes and passes laws by requiring that every bill or joint resolution focus on only one subject. It would also require the title of each bill to clearly describe its contents. This aims to prevent the practice of attaching unrelated provisions, often called riders, to larger pieces of legislation. Under this proposal, appropriations bills would be prohibited from including general policy changes or laws that are not directly related to the specific funding being authorized.

If this bill were to become law, any legislation that addresses multiple unrelated subjects could be declared void. Furthermore, if a specific part of a law does not comply with these rules—such as a spending provision that falls outside the relevant committee's jurisdiction—that specific part would be considered invalid. This would fundamentally change the legislative process by forcing lawmakers to vote on individual issues separately rather than in large, multi-topic packages.

The bill also provides a way for citizens and organizations to challenge laws in court. Any person or entity negatively affected by a law that was passed in violation of these one-subject rules would have the right to sue the United States government. This would give the public a legal mechanism to contest the enforcement of laws that they believe were bundled together improperly during the congressional process.