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H.R. 59 119th Congress House

Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025

Official title: To specify the state of mind required for conviction for criminal offenses that lack an expressly identified state of mind, and for other purposes.

Introduced: January 3, 2025 Introduced by: Andy Biggs Republican · Arizona See on congress.gov
Crime and Law Enforcement Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogationCriminal procedure and sentencing
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 Everywhere this bill has been 4 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jun 10, 2025
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Jun 10, 2025
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 13.
Jan 3, 2025
Introduced in House
Jan 3, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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What's happening now June 10, 2025

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

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

 

 Hearings & markups 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 19

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

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 Cosponsors 2
All 2 Republican 2
R
Roy, Chip
Texas · Jan 9, 2025
 R
Ogles, Andrew
Tennessee · Jan 3, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 59: Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-59/
MLA
"H.R. 59: Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-59/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 59, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-59/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 59: Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-59/)
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