U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, introduced a bill he said will end predatory litigation by “radical special-interest groups” against the federal government filed under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

The act, passed in 1980, authorizes the awarding of attorneys’ fees and litigation costs to certain individuals, small businesses and other entities that prevail against the federal government in judicial proceedings and certain adversary adjudications when the government’s position is not substantially justified, according to the Administrative Conference of the United States, a federal agency that prepares an annual report on EAJA awards.

The stated purpose of EAJA, among other things, is to “diminish the deterrent effect of seeking review of, or defending against, government action by providing” for the award of certain costs and fees against the United States, according to the Administrative Conference.

People worth more than $2 million and organizations worth more than $7 million are not eligible to collect attorneys’ fees under EAJA. But the act permits 501(c)(3) nonprofits to file regardless of their worth.

Rulli, whose district includes all of Mahoning and Columbiana counties, said the legislation has been “hijacked by radical special-interest groups with exorbitant budgets and massive legal teams, exploiting loopholes in exchange for taxpayer-funded handouts.”

Rulli said his Stop Serial Litigation Act of 2026 would put an end to “these schemes while maintaining the right of average Americans to fight back against government overreach and incompetence,” as EAJA originally intended.

Rulli’s bill creates a $300,000 annual cap on fees awarded to any single entity suing the federal government under the act, cuts additional award fee rates in half when an agency disputes the fee as unjustified, removes the “special factor” language that groups use to obtain hourly rates far above the statutory limit and requires attorneys to itemize and document the hours they submit for reimbursement.

Rulli said, “Frivolous litigation makes every aspect of our lives worse. These baseless lawsuits slow our courtrooms to a crawl, cause insurance rates and other costs to skyrocket, and make a mockery of our justice system while predatory lawyers and radical interest groups laugh all the way to the bank.” Rulli said EAJA “is an important tool for redressing wrongs committed by the federal government, and my bill strengthens that mission to ensure we remain a government by the people, for the people.”

Rulli’s bill exempts the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs from any changes the bill makes.

The 2025 fiscal report by the Administrative Conference of the United States shows that of the $128,597,948.30 in EAJA awards, $106,748,029.60 were for cases involving SSA and DVA. Those two agencies also accounted for 15,281 of the 15,406 EAJA awards cases.

Rulli said those two agencies were exempt from his bill because they are “rarely, if ever, targeted in these types of serial litigation schemes.”

All other departments made up the remaining 125 cases — and $21,849,918.70 in attorneys’ fees and other expenses — with the Department of Homeland Security having the most at 40 cases and $11,025,985.33.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

The bill “has no bearing on Americans’ ability to sue the government or the amount of damages they are able to collect,” Rulli said, and “if a court found the government liable for damages, they would still be on the hook to pay the plaintiffs those damages.”

But Rulli said, “EAJA abuse and the overly litigious culture it has helped create are having disastrous downstream effects in every sector. It has led to housing cost increases, rising energy rates and, among other things, has hamstrung state agencies’ ability to manage their wildlife populations.”

During a Dec. 10 U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources’ Oversight and Investigations hearing, Congressman Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican and subcommittee chairman, said the act “was created to help ordinary Americans challenge federal overreach, not to bankroll ideological lawfare campaigns,” and organizations have turned it “into a taxpayer-financed ATM to pursue political litigation that has little to do with justice and everything to do with advancing their agenda.”

At that same hearing, U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, an Oregon Democrat and ranking minority member of the subcommittee, said: “EAJA helped ensure that, regardless of income or power, the American people can hold the federal government accountable and in limited circumstances be spared the financial burden of government error.”

A number of pro-hunting organizations are supporting Rulli’s bill.

Michael Jean, litigation counsel for the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, a Columbus-based pro-hunting group, said: “We’ve seen nonprofit entities with assets north of $50 million being represented by nonprofit law firms with assets north of $200 million recovering substantial amounts of attorneys’ fees from the federal government. This bill limits fee awards to $300,000 a year. Now they will have to find other ways to survive and thrive that don’t involve taxpayer dollars.”