Bill would ban government workers who refuse to answer Congress.
H.R. 9991 — STOP the SWAMP Act · Filed by Rich McCormick (R-GA) · Introduced Jul 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill punishes government workers who refuse to answer questions before Congress or lie under oath. They face fines of $100 to $1,000 and jail time of 1 to 12 months. They are also banned from government jobs for life. Congress can take away a worker's pay within 180 days using a fast process.
Who it affects
Government workers who answer questions before Congress are affected. Congress gains power to punish workers who refuse or lie. People who claim legal rights not to answer may also be affected.
One thing to notice
The ban from government jobs lasts for life with no way to appeal or remove it later. The process to take away pay skips the normal budget rules.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Jul 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Rules and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,055 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; 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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