Constitution Index · H.J.Res. 131 · 2025-10-10

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision.

Latest official status (2025-12-11): Became Public Law No: 119-52.

Official source ↗

Constitutional grade

A

Constitutional

Congress used its Property Clause and legislative oversight powers through lawful presentment to nullify a 2024 agency restriction on Coastal Plain leasing. It infringes no Bill of Rights protection, expands productive liberty, stays at the constitutionally required federal level for federal land, and provides full due process with no taking.

Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 Amendment I Amendment IX Amendment X Article I, Section 7 Amendment V

SI-generated grade · passed automated checks (real Constitution citation, language rules) · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology · Report an error: hello@valuesforamerica.com

The five checks

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has explicit authority over federal territory and property under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 (Property Clause), including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain, plus Necessary and Proper authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 to disapprove agency rules through the Congressional Review Act. This is a legislative check on executive rulemaking, not an assertion of unenumerated federal police power.

Bill of Rights · passes

Nullifying an executive-branch restriction on leasing does not abridge speech, religion, press, assembly under the First Amendment, does not implicate the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, or Eighth Amendments, and does not infringe unenumerated rights retained under the Ninth Amendment. No search, seizure, compelled testimony, or prior restraint is authorized.

Individual liberty · passes

The measure removes rather than imposes a restriction: it restores eligibility for lease, exploration, labor, contract, and productive use of resources subject to statute, expanding rather than contracting individual and enterprise freedom to bid, work, and produce. The burden analysis under the Ninth Amendment and liberty principles favors repeal of restrictions; no compelled speech, belief, labor, or expropriation is imposed.

Decentralization · passes

Management of federally owned refuge land cannot be handled by an individual, family, county, or state acting alone because title is held by the United States. Action therefore does not consolidate upward beyond the minimum necessary level; it reverses a federal executive restriction through a federal legislative act, consistent with the Tenth Amendment reservation for powers not delegated. Questions 1-3 are answered false because private or sub-federal actors lack authority to dispose of federal property.

Due process and takings · passes

The resolution uses lawful legislative procedure with presentment under Article I, Section 7, and the Congressional Review Act procedure in 5 U.S.C. chapter 8, providing notice through enrollment and presidential signature as Public Law 119-52. It effects no deprivation of life, liberty, or property under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and no physical or regulatory taking requiring just compensation under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause.

Provenance

Grade ID
179
Rubric version
vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0
Graded
2026-10-08 10:39 UTC
Engine
primary SI engine
Source fetched
2026-10-08 09:43 UTC
Source SHA-256
5e0b740a7775a12beecc2818e10a950beffa5841ecc50599f719efdac62d70bb
Checks
si-editorial-standard/1.0: real Constitution citation, language rules

Version history · never overwritten

GradeGradedRubric Source hashStatus
A · #179 2026-10-08 vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0 5e0b740a7775 current

Cite this

Values for America. “Constitutional grade: H.J.Res. 131, Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision..” VFA Constitution Index, grade 179 (rubric vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0), graded October 8, 2026. https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution-index/grades/179. Accessed 2026-10-19.

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