H.R. 3685 · 119th Congress

JUST Act of 2025

Introduced on Jun 3, 2025 by Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-1). 2 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Jun 3, 2025): Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Jun 3, 2025
Cosponsors
2
0 from the other party
Policy area
Agriculture and Food
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To enhance civil rights accountability and enforcement in the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Jun 3, 2025). Public domain.

Just USDA Standards and Transparency Act of 2025 or the JUST Act of 2025

This bill increases Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversight and enforcement of civil rights-related violations and actions.

USDA must take appropriate corrective action regarding any USDA official or employee who engages in certain discriminatory actions, retaliatory actions, harassment, or civil rights violations (e.g., failure to provide appropriate information regarding relevant USDA programs and services). A corrective action (1) is any action that would enhance civil rights at USDA, including policy or programmatic changes; and (2) may include disciplinary actions (e.g., removal from federal service or a letter of reprimand).

The bill shifts the burden of proof from a farmer or rancher to USDA in an appeal to the USDA National Appeals Division. Specifically, USDA must prove by substantial evidence the validity of a USDA adverse decision.

Further, a farmer or rancher who fails to comply fully with the requirements to receive a loan may be eligible for equitable relief if the USDA determines the individual made a good faith effort to comply with the loan requirements.

The bill also

  • directs USDA to establish an Office of the Legal Advisor for Civil Rights and Office of the Civil Rights Ombudsperson;
  • creates the required position of Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights (currently an optional USDA position); and
  • allows the Assistant Secretary to grant relief, without prior approval, to farmers or ranchers who file certain civil rights complaints, including complaints regarding direct farm ownership, operating, or emergency loans.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Jonathan L. JacksonD-IL-1Sponsor

Democrats · 2

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jun 3, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Jun 3, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Jun 3, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 8, 2026 · loaded Oct 8, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.