Congress repeals mystery appropriation without explaining what it undoes
S. 3195 — Anti-Cash Grab Act · Filed by Martin Heinrich (D-NM) · 34 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 18, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill repeals Section 213 of the 2026 Continuing Appropriations Act and restores Section 10 of the 2005 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act to its prior state. The bill's operative effect depends entirely on what Section 213 of the 2026 Act did — the text does not state that directly, so the civic impact cannot be fully assessed from this bill alone. The title 'Anti-Cash Grab Act' suggests the repealed provision involved an improper appropriation or payment, but the bill itself does not explain what is being undone.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a pure repeal-and-restore mechanism with no substantive policy language. Its functional character depends entirely on the content of the cited provisions, which are not reproduced in the bill text.
What the text implies
- The title 'Anti-Cash Grab Act' signals a public-interest framing, but the bill does not disclose what Section 213 actually did, making it impossible to verify whether the repeal serves the public or a narrow interest.
- Retroactive effective date ('as if included in the enactment') may alter the timing of financial obligations or entitlements, but the direction and magnitude are opaque without Section 213's text.
- The bill restores a 2005 provision (Section 10 of Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005), suggesting a reversal of a 2026 change, but the nature of that reversal is not disclosed.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill's civic effect is indeterminate from the text provided. If Section 213 authorized an improper payment or carve-out, repealing it would benefit citizens by blocking that payment; if it imposed a restriction or cut, repealing it would restore a prior entitlement. The title suggests a public-interest purpose ('Anti-Cash Grab'), but without the text of Section 213 or Section 10, the actual direction and beneficiaries cannot be determined.
Named in the bill
Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005, Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affai, Public Law 119–37
Where it stands
34 cosponsors: 33 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Nov 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Nov 18, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $80,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 16 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Martin Heinrich, the sponsor, reported $455,777 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Computer & Communications Industry Association — $80,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 18, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (685 characters) on Oct 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,388 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 Jun 2026 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 18, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-21.
“Congress repeals mystery appropriation without explaining what it undoes” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3195 Report an error
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