S. 616 · 119th Congress

Foundation of the Federal Bar Association Charter Amendments Act of 2025

Introduced on Feb 18, 2025 by John Kennedy (R-LA). One cosponsor. Became Public Law 119-57.

Stage
Became law
Public Law 119-57
Introduced
Feb 18, 2025
Cosponsors
1
1 from the other party
Policy area
Law
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. Sent to the President
  6. Became law

Official title

A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to revise the Federal charter for the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association.

Subjects

  • District of Columbia
  • Federally chartered organizations
  • Lawyers and legal services

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Dec 12, 2025). Public domain.

Foundation of the Federal Bar Association Charter Amendments Act of 2025

This act revises the federal charter for the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association to shift authority from the charter to the bylaws.

Specifically, it makes the following changes:

  • removes the requirement for the foundation to be incorporated and domiciled in the District of Columbia;
  • requires the board of directors to decide, and specify in the bylaws, the location of the principal office;
  • specifies that the bylaws—not the charter—must provide for the terms of membership, the responsibilities of the board of directors, and the election of officers;
  • prohibits a director or officer, in his or her corporate capacity, from contributing to, supporting, or participating in political activities;
  • allows income and assets of the corporation to be used to reasonably compensate or reimburse expenses of an officer, director, or member; to award a grant to the Federal Bar Association chapter of an officer, director, or member; and to reasonably compensate employees;
  • expands a prohibition on loans for directors and officers to include members and employees; and
  • specifies that on dissolution or final liquidation, any remaining assets must be distributed as provided by the board of directors instead of deposited in the Treasury.

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

John KennedyR-LASponsor

Democrats · 1

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. Feb 18, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Feb 18, 2025 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  3. Apr 30, 2025Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  4. Apr 30, 2025 · SenateSenate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  5. Apr 30, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Apr 30, 2025 · SenatePassed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S2709-2710; text: CR S2709-2710)
  7. May 1, 2025 · SenateMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
  8. May 5, 2025 · HouseReceived in the House.
  9. May 5, 2025 · HouseHeld at the desk.
  10. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseMr. McClintock moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
  11. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H4928-4929)
  12. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 616.
  13. Dec 1, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4928)
  14. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4928)
  15. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  16. Dec 10, 2025Presented to President.
  17. Dec 10, 2025 · HousePresented to President.
  18. Dec 12, 2025Signed by President.
  19. Dec 12, 2025Signed by President.
  20. Dec 12, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-57.
  21. Dec 12, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-57.

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. Federal Bar Association4 reports
    $240K 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.