List of United States Federal Legislation

Please see the legal disclaimer if you are looking for legal advice.

At the federal level in the United States, legislation consists primarily of Actss passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Secondary legislation is also made by the President (primarily Executive Orders), and by other individuals or bodies (e.g. the US federal courts issue Practice Directions).

Some notable Acts of Congress:

• 1789 - Judiciary Act
• 1789 - Hamilton Tariff
• 1791 - First Bank of the United States
• 1798 - Alien and Sedition Acts
• 1806 - Cumberland Road
• 1807 - Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
• 1807 - Embargo Act
• 1809 - Non-Intercourse Act
• 1810 - Macon's Bill Number 2
• 1816 - Second Bank of the United States
• 1817 - Bonus Bill
• 1820 - Missouri Compromise
• 1828 - Tariff of Abominations
• 1833 - Force Bill
• 1836 - Gag Rule
• 1846 - Wilmot Proviso
• 1846 - Walker tariff
• 1849 - Gold Coinage Act
• 1850 - Compromise of 1850
• 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act
• 1861 - Morrill tariff
• 1862 - Homestead Act
• 1862 - Pacific Railway Act
• 1862 - Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act
• 1863 - National Banking Act
• 1864 - Wade-Davis Bill
• 1865 - Freedman's Bureau
• 1866 - Civil Rights Act
• 1867 - Congressional Reconstruction Act
• 1867 - Tenure of Office Act
• 1872 - Amnesty Act
• 1872 - Yellowstone National Park opens
• 1875 - Resumption Act
• 1878 - Bland-Allison Act
• 1878 - Posse Comitatus Act
• 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act
• 1883 - Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
• 1887 - Dawes Act
• 1887 - Interstate Commerce Act
• 1887 - Hatch Act
• 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
• 1902 - Newlands Reclamation Act
• 1903 - Elkins Act
• 1906 - Hepburn Act
• 1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act
• 1906 - Meat Inspection Act
• 1907 - Gentlemens Agreement
• 1908 - Aldrich Vreeland Act
• 1909 - Payne-Aldrich tariff
• 1910 - Mann-Elkins Act
• 1910 - Mann Act
• 1913 - Federal Reserve Act
• 1913 - Underwood tariff
• 1914 - Federal Trade Commission Act
• 1914 - Clayton Antitrust Act
• 1916 - Adamson Railway Labor Act
• 1916 - Federal Farm Loan Act
• 1917 - Espionage and Sedition Acts
• 1920 - Volstead Act
• 1920 - Esch-Cummins Act
• 1921 - Emergency Quota Act
• 1922 - Fordney-McCumber tariff
• 1924 - Immigration Act Basic Law
• 1924 - Indian Reorganization Act
• 1929 - Immigration Act National Origins Formula
• 1929 - Agriculture Marketing Act
• 1930 - Hawley-Smoot tariff
• 1932 - Norris-LaGuardia Act
• 1932 - Reconstruction Finance Corporation
• 1933 - Agricultural Adjustment Act
• 1933 - Civil Works Administration
• 1933 - Civilian Conservation Corps
• 1933 - Farm Credit Administration
• 1933 - Home Owners Loan Corporation
• 1933 - Tennessee Valley Authority
• 1933 - Public Works Administration
• 1933 - National (Industrial) Recovery Act
• 1934 - Communications Act
• 1934 - Glass Steagal Act
• 1934 - Securities and Exchange Commission
• 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
• 1938 - Wheeler-Lea Act
• 1938 - Fair Labor Standards Act
• 1939 - Hatch Act
• 1939 - Cash and Carry
• 1940 - Selective Service Act
• 1940 - Alien Registration (Smith) Act
• 1941 - Lend Lease Act
• 1942 - Office of Price Administration
• 1944 - GI Bill of Rights
• 1947 - Presidential Succession Act
• 1945 - Bretton Woods Agreement PL 79-171
• 1947 - Aid to Greece and Turkey (See Truman Doctrine) PL 80-75
• 1947 - Taft-Hartley Act
• 1947 - National Security Act
• 1948 - Foreign Assistance Act (Marshall Plan) PL 80-472
• 1950 - National Science Foundation Act PL 81-507
• 1950 - McCarran Internal Security Act
• 1951 - Mutual Security Act
• 1952 - Immigration and Naturalization Act
• 1952 - Mine Safety Act PL 82-552
• 1954 - Saint Lawrence Seaway Act
• 1956 - Interstate Highway Act
• 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
• 1960 - Civil Rights Act PL 86-449
• 1961 - Peace Corps
• 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 - United States Department of Transportation established PL 89-670
• 1967 - Age Discrimination Act PL 90-202
• 1967 - Public Broadcasting Act
• 1968 - Open Housing Act PL 90-284
• 1969 - Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act PL 91-173
• 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
• 1973 - Rehabilitation Act PL 93-112
• 1974 - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
• 1976 - Government in the Sunshine Act
• 1976 - Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act PL 94-210
• 1978 - Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act
• 1978 - Airline Deregulation Act
• 1980 - Refugee Act
• 1980 - Staggers Act PL 96-448
• 1981 - Kemp-Roth Tax Cut
• 1984 - Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act PL 98-435
• 1986 - Age Discrimination in Employment Act PL 99-572
• 1986 - Tax Reform Act of 1986
• 1986 - Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act
• 1986 - Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
• 1986 - Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (Defense Reorganization)
• 1987 - Surface Transportation Act
• 1987 - Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 - Public Law 100-107
• 1990 - Americans with Disabilities Act PL 101-336
• 1990 - Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act Human Genome Project funding PL 101-508
• 1991 - Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act PL 102-240
• 1996 - Communications Decency Act
• 1996 - Telecommunications Act of 1996
• 1998 - Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• 1998 - Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
• 1998 - Financial Services Modernization Act
• 2001 - USA PATRIOT Act
• 2002 - Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• 2002 - U.S. Trade Promotion Authority Act
• 2003 - Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act

Some famous Executive Orders:

• 1836 - Specie Circular

For more detailed legislative histories in specific domains, see the Related Legislation sections of the following pages:

Table of contents

1 Departments and Agencies 2 Legislation 3 Concepts

Departments and Agencies

• 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

Legislation

• Immigration Act
• Tax Reform Act of 1986
• Voting Rights Act

Concepts

• Budget deficit
• Deregulation
• Gulf War
• New federalism
• Sunshine law
• List of Uniform Acts (United States)