Congress keeps control of visa lottery program from the leader.
H.R. 9457 — Diversity Visa Protection and Modernization Act · Filed by Yvette Clarke (D-NY) · 29 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 25, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill stops the leader from shutting down the entire Visa Lottery Program without Congress saying yes. The leader can pause the program for up to 60 days. The leader can also ban it in certain countries. But the leader must tell Congress within 7 days and explain why. The details must be published in the Federal Register. People picked for a visa lottery keep their spot even if the program is paused.
Who it affects
People who were already picked for a visa lottery are safe. Congress gets to watch over the program again. The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security must follow new rules about pauses.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say what happens if the leader ignores the rule. There is no fine and no way to enforce it in court.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
29 cosponsors: 29 Democrats.
- Jun 25, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 25, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Visa Lottery Program — A way for people from certain countries to apply for visas to the U.S.
- Federal Register — An official government record where new rules and notices are published for the public to read.
- pause — A temporary stop of something.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 5, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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