Congress blocks energy-efficiency rule for commercial coolers and freezers
H.J.Res. 24 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers". · Filed by Stephanie Bice (R-OK) · 10 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 16, 2025 · Signed
Your members of Congress
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What it does
Congress used a special law to stop a Department of Energy rule. The rule would have set energy-efficiency standards. It covered walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. The rule is now void and will not take effect.
Who it affects
Companies that make or sell walk-in coolers and freezers are affected. Businesses that use these coolers and freezers are affected. People who pay electricity bills are affected.
One thing to notice
The resolution does not explain why Congress voted to block the rule.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
10 cosponsors: 10 Republicans.
- Jan 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 16, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
- Mar 27, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 203 - 182 (Roll no. 77). (text: CR H1307)”
- Apr 3, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 53 - 42. Record Vote Number: 162”
- May 5, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- May 9, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-7”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 2 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $1,384,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 66 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.
Stephanie Bice, who sponsored the bill, received $1,024,250 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Food Marketplace Inc — $1,384,000 in 2 reports
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- energy-efficiency standards — Rules that set how much energy a machine can use.
- Department of Energy — The government agency that makes rules about machine energy use.
- void — No longer valid or in effect.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,133 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-17.
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