SJRES 69 — Congress 119
A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to "Record of Decision for the Barred Owl Management Strategy; Washington, Oregon, and California".
Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/69
Congress.gov subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Birds; California; Department of the Interior; Oregon; Pest management; Washington State; Environmental Protection
Issues impacted: Regulation & Agency Oversight (ai, high), Public Lands & Wildlife (ai, high), Energy & Climate (congress_subject, high)
Official bill text (stored)
Plain-text extraction from Congress.gov text formats. Canonical source remains the official URL above. Full text is prioritized for bills with roll-call votes.
119 SJ 69 IS: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to “Record of Decision for the Barred Owl Management Strategy; Washington, Oregon, and California”. U.S. Senate 2025-07-24 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. IIA 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. J. RES. 69 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 24, 2025 Mr. Kennedy (for himself and Mr. Paul ) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works JOINT RESOLUTION Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to Record of Decision for the Barred Owl Management Strategy; Washington, Oregon, and California . That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to Record of Decision for the Barred Owl Management Strategy; Washington, Oregon, and California (issued September 6, 2024, as a record of decision, and a letter of opinion from the Government Accountability Office dated May 28, 2025, printed in the Congressional Record on July 10, 2025, on pages S4311–S4313, concluding that such record of decision is a rule under the Congressional Review Act), and such rule shall have no force or effect.
Plain-English summary
Confidence: high · Complexity: simple · Model: grok-4.5
So this one’s a straight up-or-down try to kill a Fish and Wildlife Service plan about barred owls in Washington, Oregon, and California.
Congress is using the Congressional Review Act—the CRA, a fast-track tool that lets lawmakers wipe out an agency rule. The target is a 2024 “Record of Decision” that sets the Service’s management strategy for barred owls in those three states. A GAO letter said that decision counts as a “rule” under the CRA, which is why this joint resolution exists.
If it became law, that federal barred owl strategy would have no force or effect—it’d be dead. People who follow wildlife management, forest birds, or Interior Department rules on the West Coast are the ones who’d notice. Everyone else mostly wouldn’t feel a day-to-day change.
In the Senate, a motion to even take the measure up failed 25–72, so it did not move forward from there.
Related issues
How a vote maps to positions
Impartial mapping: which issue position a Yea vs Nay advances. When a bill has multiple floor votes, each roll can have its own mapping. Bill-level entries (no roll listed) apply as a default when a roll has no specific map. Used for legislator alignment.
All rolls (bill default)
| Issue | Yea advances | Nay advances | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Lands & Wildlife | Stronger species and habitat protections | Delisting and active wildlife management | Yea nullifies the FWS barred owl management ROD (blocking that control strategy); Nay leaves the active management strategy in effect. |
| Regulation & Agency Oversight | Disapprove or nullify agency rules | Preserve agency rules and standards | Classic CRA joint resolution: Yea strips force from the FWS record of decision treated as a rule; Nay keeps that agency action in effect. |