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by gsjjsjsbsb 1903 days ago
Congress cannot pass a law that binds future Congresses, the supreme court decided in Winstar (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/95-865.ZO.html)

A later congress can always legislate whatever it wants, even if it contradicts previous legislation.

1 comments

Winstar is with respect to damage to a nongovernmental entity. Congress can affect Congress in other ways, such as changing its rules of session or changing the pay of its members, that do bind future Congresses. I'd say a rule against referencing nonpublic standards would be closer to the second than the first. (A future congress, of course, could change it back...)