Washington, D.C. — The House Judiciary Committee voted to advance the "Count the Crimes to Cut Act of 2025" today, a bill introduced by Representatives Lucy McBath (GA-06), Chip Roy (TX-21), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), and Steve Cohen (TN-09).  

This legislation would require the Department of Justice and federal agency heads to compile a comprehensive report detailing all federal criminal statutes and regulations entailing criminal penalties.

Congresswoman McBath, Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Crime, said:“I was proud to see the Count the Crimes to Cut Act move one step closer to becoming law by passing out of our committee today. With this bill, Americans will no longer have to fear being excessively punished and criminal justice professionals can better protect the public. Thank you to my colleagues for their collaboration in the fight for common-sense, bipartisan solutions to address the pressing issue of overcriminalization."

Congressman Roy, Chairman on the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, said:"Freedom is just an illusion when the government buries its own citizens under ridiculous and never-ending criminal laws. Almost any American could be indicted charged from some crime, often without even knowing they had violated a law or regulation.  Worse - we have zero idea how many laws there are actually are!  Past efforts to count the crimes were abandoned because it was “too hard.”  Some estimate that there are over 5000 crimes in statute, and upwards of 300,000 regulations that carry criminal penalties.
 
This needs to change, and I am proud that the House Judiciary Committee took the next step in obtaining a proper accounting of the number of federal crimes and their frequency of use against American citizens by passing H.R. 2159, the Count the Crimes to Cut Act. It is a necessary first step in fixing this problem and ensuring that Americans are not caught in the crosshairs of overcriminalization.

I want to thank House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan for bringing the bill before the committee. I would also like to thank my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee who helped advance the Count the Crimes to Cut Act, including Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Lucy McBath, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Andy Biggs, and senior member of the Judiciary Committee Steve Cohen on this effort.
 
Congress must bring this bill to the floor to send to the President's desk and crackdown on the overcriminalization at the hands of the federal government."

Congressman Biggs, Chairman on the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, said: "Congress must protect Americans’ liberties, and this begins with scaling down the massive overreach in federal criminal offenses. The passage of Count the Crimes to Cut Act out of committee is a step in the right direction to walk back federal overcriminalization. I urge House and Senate Leadership to quickly pass this bill so that it may be signed into law by President Trump."

Congressman Cohen, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said: “No one knows how many federal criminal offenses there are. Our founders warned us against having laws too ‘voluminous’ or ‘incoherent’ to be understood by the people. The Count the Crimes Act makes a simple request of the Department of Justice: list out the federal criminal offenses, their elements, and how often they are used. We have a lot of work to do to make criminal justice more fair and responsive to the challenges we face today. This is how we start. I am pleased to work with Congressman Roy and others on both sides of the aisle to pass this necessary legislation.”

The Count The Crimes to Cut Act of 2025 would:
Require the Attorney General, in cooperation with the agency heads, to produce a full report of all federal criminal statutes and federal regulations with criminal penalties.  For each offense, the report is required to provide the following details:

• The elements of each offense.
• The potential penalties for each offense.
• The number of prosecutions brought in the last 15 years for each offense.
• The mens rea required for each offense.

The legislation is endorsed by Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Due Process Institute, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the R Street Institute, and Right on Crime. 

Read the full legislation here.