It sets a national 180-day deadline for states to complete special elections to fill vacant House seats.
Set a national 180-day deadline for states to complete special elections to fill vacant House seats.
Occurrences
To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives not later than 180 days after a vacancy occurs in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.
Introduced the Special Elections Timeliness Act (or SET Act), to ensure no congressional district experiences the prolonged vacancy TX-18 faced following the passing of the late Congressman Sylvester Turner.
introduced his first original bill in Congress, the Special Elections Timeliness Act, to set a deadline for filling House vacancies after governors call special elections
Evidence
The official House press releases page lists an April 30, 2026 item announcing Menefee's first original bill, the Special Election Timeliness (SET) Act.
The Houston Chronicle reported that Menefee's bill would require states to fill House vacancies within 180 days after he filed it in response to Houston's long vacancy.
On June 10, the Chronicle reported Abbott still had not set a special election for TX-23 and noted Menefee had filed legislation to speed up vacancy fills.
Assessments
Menefee made a concrete legislative attempt in his first term by introducing the Special Election Timeliness (SET) Act in April 2026, and reporting confirms the bill would impose the promised national 180-day deadline for filling vacant U.S. House seats. But the promised outcome is the establishment of that national deadline, and the evidence shows only bill introduction, not enactment or implementation. As of June 10, 2026, the vacancy-delay problem remained unresolved and the proposal had not become law, so the promise was seriously pursued but not delivered.