Congress·In Committee·H.R. 4448

Restoring Equal Opportunity Act

Congress Proposes Ending Lawsuits Over Policies That Unintentionally Hurt Minority Groups

12 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Part of: Congress Moves to End Disparate Impact Rules in Housing and Employment

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

↔Companion bill: Senate Bill Would End Disparate-Impact Lawsuits Under Civil Rights, Fair Housing Laws

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

This bill would change how civil rights laws work for jobs and housing. Currently, people can sue if a company's rules hurt one group more than others, even if the company didn't mean to. This bill would stop those kinds of lawsuits, meaning you could only sue if you can prove the company intended to discriminate on purpose.
In the workplace, it would remove a section of the Civil Rights Act that allows employees to challenge hiring tests or requirements that unfairly screen out certain groups. If this passes, a rule that seems fair but has a bad outcome for a specific race or gender would no longer be against the law unless it was designed to be unfair.
For housing, the bill would stop similar lawsuits against landlords or banks. This means policies like using certain credit scores or criminal records to deny housing couldn't be challenged just because they affect one group of people more than another. Renters would have to prove the landlord was trying to discriminate.
The bill also cancels several older government rules that allowed these types of legal challenges. The sponsors of the bill argue that these changes are necessary to protect the Constitution and ensure that laws focus on treating everyone the same rather than looking at the final results of a policy.

Civil RightsLabor EmploymentHousing

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Life & Work

People with criminal records are among those most directly protected by disparate-impact claims in housing. Blanket bans on renting to people with any criminal history have been challenged as having a disparate impact on Black and Latino individuals. Without disparate-impact liability, landlords could freely use criminal background checks as an absolute bar to housing without legal challenge, even if these policies disproportionately exclude minority applicants.

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Programs

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jul 16, 2025House

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Jul 16, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

Related News

3 articles

Washington Post·about 1 year ago

Trump order aims at 'disparate impact' analysis, a longtime civil rights tool

President Trump signed an executive order to eliminate 'disparate impact' analysis, a tool used for decades to fight discrimination in education and housing. The order directs agencies to deprioritize enforcement of laws where policies have discriminatory effects without proven intent.

Center Left

Daily Caller·12 months ago

Sen. Lee Looks To Codify Executive Order Restoring Opportunity In Workplace

Senator Mike Lee and Rep. Brandon Gill introduced the Restoring Equal Opportunity Act to permanently end 'disparate impact' claims. The bill seeks to ensure that civil rights laws focus on equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome by requiring proof of intentional discrimination.

Right

Law360·5 months ago

Disparate Impact Liability Is Top of Mind – Is Your Financial Institution Ready?

Financial institutions are navigating a shifting landscape as federal agencies deprioritize disparate impact enforcement. While the administration seeks to eliminate the theory, private litigation and state-level regulations continue to pose risks for lenders using automated credit scoring.

Center

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Restoring Equal Opportunity Act

Bill NumberHR 4448

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.