H.R. 2159, Count the Crimes to Cut Act

H.R. 2159 would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) and 35 agencies to report to the Congress on every criminal offense that is enforceable under their authorities. Executive Order 14294 currently directs every executive agency to report annually to the Office of Management and Budget on federal regulations that are enforceable by a criminal penalty.[1]

The legislation would impose additional reporting costs on the affected agencies by requiring them to disclose the number of cases for each offense that they referred to DOJ for prosecution in each of the previous 15 years. The act also would require DOJ to report to the Congress on every crime listed in federal statute. For each statutory crime, the department would need to outline the state-of-mind requirement for an individual or an entity to be found criminally liable, potential penalties for violations, and data on the number of cases that the department has prosecuted in each of the previous 15 years.

Using information from DOJ, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2159 would cost the department $7 million over the 2026-2031 period. CBO expects that DOJ would need 35 U.S. attorneys, at an average annual cost of employment of $185,000 each, to complete the study and prepare the report. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would increase costs by an insignificant amount for affected agencies whose administrative costs are subject to appropriation. CBO also estimates that costs for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would be insignificant. Because those agencies collect fees each year to offset their annual appropriations, CBO expects that the net effect on discretionary spending over the 2026-2031 period would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2159 would increase costs by an insignificant amount for affected agencies whose operating costs are classified in the budget as direct spending.

CBO expects that the reporting requirements also would result in insignificant costs for the Postal Regulatory Commission. Under current law, that commission receives an annual payment from the Postal Service Fund, which is classified as off-budget direct spending.

If the SEC or the FCC were to increase annual fees to offset the costs of implementing the provisions in H.R. 2159, the cost of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees would increase as well. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small and would fall well below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

H.R. 2159 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Sean Christensen (for federal costs) and Erich Dvorak (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.