HR 59reported119th Congress

Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025

Introduced Jan 3, 2025House billPolicy area: Crime and Law EnforcementLast action Jun 10, 2025Sponsor: Andy Biggs(R-AZ)

legalCrime and Law Enforcement

Judiciary Committee

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Official summaryUpdated Jun 10, 2025

What the bill does

Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025 This bill establishes a default mens rea standard (i.e., state of mind requirement) for federal criminal offenses—statutory and regulatory—that lack an explicit standard. The government must generally prove that a defendant acted knowingly with respect to each element of an offense for which the text does not specify a state of mind.

Latest official action

Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 13.

Lobbying Filings Citing It

$127.0K

Reported on Those Filings, All Issues

Lobbying Clients

Recorded Votes

Timeline

Jan 3, 2025bill

Bill introduced

Apr 10, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS (NACDL)

Jul 10, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES

Jul 14, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS (NACDL)

Jul 20, 2025lobbying

Lobbying filed by PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES

Aug 21, 2025

Official Congressional Actions

Jun 10, 2025Committee

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Judiciary Committee

View official action

Jun 10, 2025Committee

Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 13.

Judiciary Committee

View official action

Jan 3, 2025IntroReferral

Introduced in House

View official action

Jan 3, 2025IntroReferral

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

Lobbying Activity

Registrant	Client	Amount	Filed	Period	Issues
DUE PROCESS INSTITUTE	DUE PROCESS INSTITUTE	$40.0K	Aug 21, 2025	2025Q2	CIVCONLAW
PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES	PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES	$30.0K	Jul 10, 2025	2025Q2	LAW
THE HAZEN COUNSEL, LLC	PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES

About this page

The lobbying table lists Senate LDA quarterly reports (LD-2) that cite this bill by number and cover a quarter of the 119th Congress. An LD-2 names a bill as “H.R. 1234” with no Congress, so a report on another Congress, which can only concern a different bill with the same number, is left out, even when it was filed after this Congress began. The amount is what the registrant reported for the whole filing, across every issue on it, not spending on this bill. Official actions and the bill summary come from Congress.gov, and votes from the roll-call record. This page no longer pairs the bill with members' stock trades: matching lobbying clients to traded companies by name, and trades to a bill by date, is not something the records establish.