WASHINGTON – Today, the Architect of the Capitol Appointment Act passed the House. Upon its passage, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01) released the following statement: 

“This bill is a win. Passing the AOC Appointment Act will bring greater accountability to our oversight of legislative branch entities. This bill gives Congress the sole responsibility in selecting new leadership and, when necessary, the authority to hold bad actors accountable.”
 
This bipartisan, bicameral legislation was included in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).The legislation was introduced by Chairman Bryan Steil, Ranking Member Joe Morelle (NY-25), and Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ranking Member Deb Fischer (R-NE) earlier this year.

The Architect of the Capitol Appointment Act:

• Establishes a congressional commission for the appointment of the Architect made up of the Senate majority and minority leaders, Speaker of the House and minority leader, and the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Rules Committee, Committee on House Administration, Senate Appropriations Committee, and House Appropriations Committee.
• Authorizes the commission, by majority vote, to appoint, re-appoint, or remove an Architect, rather than the President. 
• Requires the Architect to appoint a Deputy Architect within 120 days of a vacancy in the position, and authorizes the commission to do so by majority vote if the Architect does not do so.
• In the instance of an absence in both the Architect and Deputy Architect roles, authorizes the commission, by majority vote, to designate an Acting Architect.

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

Background:

On February 9th, the Committee on House Administration held a hearing with now former Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton. This was the first and only congressional hearing with Blanton since allegations about misuse of official resources were brought to light by the AOC Inspector General. Two business days later, Blanton was fired by President Joe Biden. Following the hearing, House and Senate leaders of the Committee on House Administration and Senate Rules Committee introduced the Architect of the Capitol Appointment Act.