H.R. 6194, Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act

H.R. 6194 would bar private entities, such as foreign businesses or their U.S. counterparts, from bringing civil actions in federal or state courts to enforce judgments or arbitration awards issued by foreign courts. Specifically, the prohibition would apply in cases where actions taken to comply with U.S. sanctions or export controls impeded the performance of a contract, or where a foreign court asserted jurisdiction based on the imposition of U.S. sanctions or related foreign laws. The bill would allow defendants to remove such cases from state court to federal court, where they would be dismissed. The prohibition would apply to cases pending on or after the date of enactment.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6194 would reduce the number of civil cases filed and litigated in federal courts resulting in a negligible increase in the deficit. The federal judiciary charges fees, which are recorded in the budget as revenues, to file suit in district court and the courts can spend those fees without further appropriation. Because CBO expects that the number of case filings prohibited by the bill would be small, we estimate that enacting H.R. 6194 would reduce revenues and the resulting direct spending by insignificant amounts over the 2026-2036 period.

CBO further estimates that implementing the bill would have a negligible effect on spending subject to appropriation. Federal agencies would incur insignificant costs to update guidance reflecting the changes in H.R. 6194. The bill also would reduce court costs by an insignificant amount because fewer cases would be heard.

H.R. 6194 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by eliminating the ability of U.S.-based entities to seek civil damages in federal court. The cost of the mandate would be the forgone value of awards and settlements that would have been awarded for such claims in the absence of the bill. CBO has no information on the aggregate value of such awards. Therefore, CBO cannot estimate whether the cost of the mandate would exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

H.R. 6194 does not contain any intergovernmental mandates.

On June 1, 2026, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 2934, the Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2025, as passed by the Senate on April 28, 2026. The two pieces of legislation are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.

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