H.R. 997 · 119th Congress

National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025

Introduced on Feb 5, 2025 by Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4). One cosponsor. Latest action (Sep 28, 2026): Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5123)

Stage
Passed both chambers
Introduced
Feb 5, 2025
Cosponsors
1
1 from the other party
Policy area
Taxation
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

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

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

Official title

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to conform to the intent of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, as set forth in the joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference accompanying Conference Report 105-599, that the National Taxpayer Advocate be able to hire and consult counsel as appropriate.

Subjects

  • Federal officials
  • Lawyers and legal services
  • Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Feb 5, 2025). Public domain.

National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025

This bill authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to appoint legal counsel within the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) to report directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. The bill also expands the authority of the National Taxpayer Advocate to take personnel actions with respect to local taxpayer advocates (located in each state) to include actions with respect to any employee of TAS.

Currently, pursuant to a Department of the Treasury order, all legal counsel whose duties include providing legal advice to any official in any office or bureau of Treasury are part of the Legal Division within Treasury and under the supervision of the General Counsel, with limited exceptions. TAS assists taxpayers in matters involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is part of the IRS, within Treasury.

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

Randy FeenstraR-IA-4Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Roll calls

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

  1. On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended
    Mar 31, 2025· House· Passage· Passed 385–0

History

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

  1. Feb 5, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 5, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 5, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
  4. Feb 12, 2025 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  5. Feb 12, 2025 · HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 43 - 0.
  6. Mar 27, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-46.
  7. Mar 27, 2025 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-46.
  8. Mar 27, 2025 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 33.
  9. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseMr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  10. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H1349-1351)
  11. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 997.
  12. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  13. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H1356-1357)
  14. Mar 31, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 385 - 0 (Roll no. 85).House · Roll call 85
  15. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 385 - 0 (Roll no. 85). (text: CR H1349-1350)House · Roll call 85
  16. Mar 31, 2025 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  17. Apr 1, 2025 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
  18. Sep 28, 2026Senate Committee on Finance discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  19. Sep 28, 2026 · SenateSenate Committee on Finance discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  20. Sep 28, 2026Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5123)
  21. Sep 28, 2026 · SenatePassed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S5123)

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.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. National Taxpayers Union1 report
    $30K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025.

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 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 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 5, 2026 · loaded Oct 5, 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.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.