List of United States federal legislation
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At the federal level in the United States, legislation consists exclusively of Acts passed by the Congress of the United States (and its short-lived predecessor, the Continental Congress) and signed into law by the President (or passed by Congress over the President's veto). Other regulations and orders having the force of law may be made by the President (primarily Executive Orders), executive branch departments, administrative agencies, and other officials or bodies empowered by Congress (e.g. the procedural rules of the federal courts).
1790s - 1800s - 1810s - 1820s - 1830s - 1840s - 1850s - 1860s - 1870s - 1880s - 1890s - 1900s - 1910s - 1920s - 1930s - 1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s - 2000s - Executive Orders - Departments and Agencies - Concepts
Notable Acts of Congress
18th century
1780s
- 1785 - Land Ordinance of 1785
- 1787 - Northwest Ordinance
- 1789 - Judiciary Act of 1789
- 1789 - Hamilton Tariff
1790s
- 1790 - Residence Act
- 1791 - First Bank of the United States
- 1792 - Coinage Act
- 1794 - Naval Act of 1794
- 1798 - Alien and Sedition Acts
19th century
1800s
- 1802 - Enabling Act of 1802
- 1806 - Cumberland Road
- 1807 - Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
- 1807 - Embargo Act
- 1809 - Non-Intercourse Act
1810s
1820s
1830s
1840s
- 1846 - Wilmot Proviso
- 1846 - Walker tariff
- 1849 - Gold Coinage Act
1850s
- 1850 - Compromise of 1850
- 1850 - Donation Land Claim Act
- 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act
- 1856 - Guano Islands Act
1860s
- 1861 - Morrill tariff
- 1861 - Revenue Act of 1861
- 1862 - Homestead Act
- 1862 - Pacific Railway Act
- 1862 - Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act
- 1862 - Revenue Act of 1862
- 1863 - False Claims Act
- 1863 - National Banking Act
- 1865 - Freedman's Bureau
- 1866 - Civil Rights Act
- 1866 - Judicial Circuits Act
- 1867 - Congressional Reconstruction Act
- 1867 - Tenure of Office Act
1870s
- 1872 - Amnesty Act
- 1872 - Mining Act of 1872
- 1872 - Yellowstone Act
- 1875 - Resumption Act
- 1875 - Civil Rights Act
- 1878 - Bland-Allison Act
- 1878 - Posse Comitatus Act
1880s
- 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act (United States)
- 1883 - Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
- 1887 - Dawes Act
- 1887 - Interstate Commerce Act
- 1887 - Hatch Act
1890s
- 1890 - Sherman Antitrust Act
- 1890 - Sherman Silver Purchase Act
- 1890 - McKinley tariff
- 1894 - Wilson-Gorman tariff
- 1894 - Income Tax
- 1897 - Dingley tariff
- 1900 - Foraker Act
- 1900 - Gold Standard Act
20th century
1900s
- 1902 - Newlands Reclamation Act
- 1903 - Elkins Act
- 1906 - American Antiquities Act
- 1906 - Hepburn Act
- 1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act
- 1906 - Meat Inspection Act
- 1907 - Gentlemen's Agreement
- 1908 - Aldrich Vreeland Act
- 1909 - Payne-Aldrich tariff
1910s
- 1910 - Mann-Elkins Act
- 1910 - Mann Act
- 1913 - Federal Reserve Act
- 1913 - Underwood tariff
- 1914 - Federal Trade Commission Act
- 1914 - Clayton Antitrust Act
- 1914 - Smith-Lever Act
- 1916 - Adamson Act
- 1916 - Federal Farm Loan Act
- 1916 - Revenue Act of 1916
- 1917 - Espionage Act (repealed 1921)
- 1917 - Trading with the Enemy Act (PL 65-91)
- 1918 - Sedition Act (repealed 1921)
1920s
- 1920 - Volstead Act
- 1920 - Esch-Cummins Act
- 1920 - Mineral Leasing Act
- 1921 - Emergency Quota Act
- 1922 - Fordney-McCumber tariff
- 1924 - Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act)
- 1926 - Railway Labor Act
- 1926 - Revenue Act of 1926
- 1929 - National Origins Formula
- 1929 - Agriculture Marketing Act
1930s
- 1930 - Hawley-Smoot tariff
- 1930 - Plant Patent Act
- 1931 - Davis-Bacon Act
- 1932 - Norris-LaGuardia Act
- 1932 - Reconstruction Finance Corporation
- 1933 - Agricultural Adjustment Act
- 1933 - Buy American Act
- 1933 - Civil Works Administration
- 1933 - Civilian Conservation Corps
- 1933 - Farm Credit Administration
- 1933 - Home Owners Loan Corporation
- 1933 - Securities Act
- 1933 - Tennessee Valley Authority
- 1933 - Public Works Administration
- 1933 - National (Industrial) Recovery Act
- 1934 - National Firearms Act
- 1934 - Communications Act
- 1934 - Glass Steagal Act
- 1934 - Indian Reorganization Act
- 1934 - Securities Exchange Act
- 1934 - Federal Housing Administration
- 1934 - Johnson Act
- 1934 - Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act
- 1934 - Tydings-McDuffie Act
- 1935 - Works Progress Administration
- 1935 - Neutrality Act
- 1935 - Motor Carrier Act
- 1935 - Social Security Act
- 1935 - National Labor Relations Act
- 1936 - Robinson Patman Act
- 1937 - Neutrality Acts
- 1937 - Miller-Tydings Act
- 1937 - Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act
- 1938 - Wheeler-Lea Act
- 1938 - Fair Labor Standards Act
- 1939 - Hatch Act
- 1939 - Cash and Carry
1940s
- 1940 - Investment Company Act of 1940
- 1940 - Investment Advisors Act of 1940
- 1940 - Selective Service Act
- 1940 - Alien Registration (Smith) Act
- 1941 - Lend Lease Act
- 1942 - Office of Price Administration
- 1944 - Servicemen's Readjustment Act (G.I. Bill)
- 1945 - Bretton Woods Agreement PL 79-171
- 1947 - Aid to Greece and Turkey (See Truman Doctrine) PL 80-75
- 1947 - Presidential Succession Act
- 1947 - Taft-Hartley Act
- 1947 - National Security Act
- 1947 - Mineral Materials Act
- 1948 - Foreign Assistance Act (Marshall Plan) PL 80-472
1950s
- 1950 - National Science Foundation Act PL 81-507
- 1950 - McCarran Internal Security Act
- 1951 - Mutual Security Act
- 1952 - Immigration and Nationality Act (McCarran-Walter Act)
- 1952 - Mine Safety Act PL 82-552
- 1954 - Saint Lawrence Seaway Act
- 1954 - Multiple Mineral Use Act
- 1955 - Multiple Surface Use Mining Act
- 1956 - Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, nicknamed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956
- 1957 - Civil Rights Act PL 85-315
- 1958 - National Defense Education Act
- 1958 - Military Construction Appropriation Act (Advanced Research Projects Agency) PL 85-852
- 1959 - Landrum-Griffin Act
1960s
- 1960 - Civil Rights Act PL 86-449
- 1961 - Peace Corps
- 1961 - Interstate Wire Act of 1961
- 1962 - Trade Expansion Act
- 1962 - Communications Satellite Act PL 87-624
- 1963 - Equal Pay Act PL 88-38
- 1964 - Civil Rights Act PL 88-352
- 1964 - Full Employment Act
- 1964 - Great Society Programs
- 1964 - Urban Mass Transportation Act PL 88-365
- 1965 - Medicare Amendments to Social Security
- 1965 - Medicaid
- 1965 - Voting Rights Act PL 89-110
- 1965 - Immigration Act
- 1966 - Freedom of Information Act
- 1966 - Uniform Time Act
- 1966 - United States Department of Transportation established PL 89-670
- 1967 - Age Discrimination in Employment Act PL 90-202
- 1967 - Public Broadcasting Act
- 1968 - Open Housing Act PL 90-284
- 1968 - Civil Rights Act
- 1968 - Gun Control Act of 1968
- 1968 - National Trails System Act
- 1969 - Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act PL 91-173
1970s
- 1970 - Bank Secrecy Act
- 1970 - Occupational Safety and Health Act PL 91-596
- 1970 - Controlled Substances Act
- 1970 - Rail Passenger Service Act (Amtrak) PL 91-518
- 1970 - National Environmental Protection Act
- 1970 - Postal Reorganization Act (USPS) PL 91-375
- 1970 - Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
- 1972 - Equal Employment Opportunity Act PL 92-261
- 1972 - Federal Advisory Committee Act PL 92-463
- 1972 - Coastal Zone Management Act PL 92-583
- 1973 - Rehabilitation Act PL 93-112
- 1973 - War Powers Resolution PL 93-148
- 1974 - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
- 1974 - Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
- 1976 - Copyright Act of 1976
- 1976 - Government in the Sunshine Act
- 1976 - Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act PL 94-210
- 1976 - Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act PL 94-435
- 1976 - Federal Land Policy and Management Act
- 1977 - Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- 1978 - Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act
- 1978 - Airline Deregulation Act
- 1978 - District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment
1980s
- 1980 - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund)
- 1980 - Refugee Act
- 1980 - Staggers Act PL 96-448
- 1980 - Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
- 1981 - Kemp-Roth Tax Cut
- 1982 - Job Training Partnership Act - Repealed
- 1984 - Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act PL 98-435
- 1985 - Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act
- 1986 - Age Discrimination in Employment Act PL 99-572
- 1986 - Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
- 1986 - False Claims Act Amendments Act
- 1986 - Tax Reform Act of 1986
- 1986 - Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
- 1986 - Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (Defense Reorganization)
- 1987 - Agricultural Credit Act of 1987
- 1987 - Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 - Public Law 100-107
- 1987 - Surface Transportation Act
1990s
- 1990 - Americans with Disabilities Act PL 101-336
- 1990 - Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 Human Genome Project funding PL 101-508
- 1990 - Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
- 1991 - Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act PL 102-240
- 1991 - Civil Rights Act of 1991
- 1992 - Land Remote Sensing Policy Act PL 102-555
- 1993 - Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993
- 1993 - Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
- 1993 - Family and Medical Leave Act
- 1994 - Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
- 1996 - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
- 1996 - Telecommunications Act of 1996
- 1996 - Communications Decency Act (ultimately passed as part of the Telecommunications Act)
- 1996 - Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban
- 1996 - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act PL 104-193 (Welfare Reform Act)
- 1996 - Defense of Marriage Act
- 1997 - Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997
- 1998 - Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- 1998 - Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
- 1998 - Financial Services Modernization Act
- 1998 - Workforce Investment Act
21st century
2000s
- 2001 - Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act
- 2001 - USA PATRIOT Act
- 2002 - Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
- 2002 - Homeland Security Act
- 2002 - Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- 2002 - U.S. Trade Promotion Authority Act
- 2003 - Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act
- 2003 - Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
- 2003 - Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act
- 2003 - Can Spam Act
- 2004 - Unborn Victims of Violence Act
- 2005 - Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
- 2005 - Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005
Executive Orders
Departments and Agencies
For more detailed legislative histories in specific domains, see the Related Legislation sections of the following pages
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Federal Communications Commission
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Food and Drug Administration
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Office of Management and Budget
- Rural Utilities Service
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Social Security Administration
- United States Agency for International Development
- United States Department of Agriculture
- United States Department of Commerce
- United States Department of Defense
- United States Department of Education
- United States Department of Energy
- United States Department of Health and Human Services
- United States Department of Homeland Security
- United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
- United States Department of Justice
- United States Department of Labor
- United States Department of Transportation
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs