Congressman Wants a Drug Test for Lawmakers — Seriously

Published June 8, 2025 by the Drug Test Digest Team

If you’ve ever had to take a random drug test just to land a warehouse job or keep your CDL, you’ve probably thought: “Why doesn’t Congress have to do this too?” Well, Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA) agrees with you — and he just reintroduced a bill to make it happen.

The proposed legislation, H.Con.Res. 35, also known as the Exposing Congressional Drug Abuse Act, would require both House and Senate members to submit to one random drug screening per term. The catch? If a member fails, it doesn’t go away quietly — the results would be sent directly to the Committee on Ethics for review.

Zero Taxpayer Dollars, Full Accountability

Higgins made it clear this initiative wouldn’t add to the national tab. The drug testing program would be reimbursed by the members themselves, not paid for by the public. He framed the proposal as a matter of basic fairness: “Elected officials in Washington, D.C. should be subject to the same kind of random drug screenings that every blue-collar, working-class American endures.”

Sound familiar? Similar proposals have floated around Capitol Hill before — typically met with a mix of eye-rolls, smirks, and stonewalling. But Higgins says it’s about time lawmakers lived by the same rules as the rest of the country.

Will It Happen?

Let’s be real: Congress isn’t exactly known for regulating itself aggressively. While the legislation has a clear populist appeal, it remains to be seen whether it will gain traction — or just serve as a symbolic jab at political hypocrisy. But the message is clear: If you’re writing laws that affect the working class, you should at least be held to their standards.

So far, no opposition or support has been formally announced by House leadership. The proposal has been referred to committee. Stay tuned to see whether anyone in Washington actually wants to be held accountable with a cup in hand.

📖 Read the full press release on Rep. Clay Higgins' official site.