Dual Hatting Limitation Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill, introduced by Ms. Ansari, would stop high-ranking government officials from holding more than one federal job at the same time. This practice, sometimes called "dual hatting," happens when one person is put in charge of two different agencies or offices simultaneously.
• The new rules would apply to the heads of several important offices, including the Office of Government Ethics, the National Archives, and the Office of Personnel Management. It also covers top Cabinet-level leaders who oversee major parts of the government.
• The policy also targets "acting" officials, who are people filling in for a job temporarily. Under this bill, an acting official could not be assigned to run a second office at the same time they are already filling in for another one.
• This change is meant to make sure that leaders can focus all their time and energy on one agency. It also helps prevent conflicts of interest that might happen if one person has too much power over different parts of the government.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.