House Passes Oversight Committee Legislation to Improve Information Access and Increase Skills-Based Hiring

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives passed two Oversight and Government Reform Committee bills to improve information access and increase merit-based hiring for federal contracts. These bills require agencies to make sure important information supporting new rules and guidance is both the best reasonably available and more readily available to the public and ensure federal contractors are not shut out of employment opportunities by arbitrary qualification requirements. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Republican Members of Congress applauded the passage of these bills. 

“Americans have been calling for the federal government to be more transparent about its policies and processes and more efficient in the way it hires contractors and carries out projects, and they deserve greater access to information and more merit-based opportunities than the federal government currently provides. By passing these bills, the House took an important step toward holding federal agencies accountable for basing their rules and guidance on the best reasonably available information while also opening the door for qualified workers to compete for federal contracts without being blocked by unnecessary degree requirements. I applaud Rep. Lisa McClain and Rep. Nancy Mace for bringing more transparency to the government and I urge the Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass these bills,” said Chairman Comer.

The House passed H.R. 6329, the Information Quality Assurance Act (IQAA) of 2025. This bill, introduced by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), requires influential information or evidence on which agencies base new rules and guidance to be the best reasonably available. The bill also requires agencies to place in the administrative record for any new rule or guidance document the critical factual information supporting the action, make that information publicly available as an open government data asset, and cite all additional sources used during the rulemaking or guidance development process. 

“Washington bureaucrats shouldn’t be allowed to gamble with American jobs and family budgets using bad data,” Rep. McClain said. “For too long, agencies have pushed billion-dollar regulations behind closed doors with little accountability. This bill shines a light on the process and puts the American people back in charge.”

The House also passed H.R. 5235, the Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act. This bill, introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), prohibits federal agencies from using minimum education or experience requirements for proposed contractor personnel in federal contract solicitations, except when the needs of the agency cannot be met without those requirements. When any such requirements are included in a solicitation, the contracting officer must include a written justification explaining why the needs of the agency cannot be met without the requirements. 

“Sixty percent of Americans don’t have a four-year degree, yet seventy-five percent of job postings require one. This isn’t a skills gap. It’s a paper ceiling, and it’s shutting millions of qualified Americans out before they ever get a fair shot,” said Rep. Mace. “Our bill puts the focus back on skills and merit. Taxpayers deserve the most capable person for the job, not just the one with the right diploma.”