This afternoon, the House Rules Committee rejected an amendment to H.R. 5882, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2013, that would have required bulk access to legislative data. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, is not included in the final rule. Daniel Schuman examined the amendment yesterday.

As the Rules Committee was meeting, Rep. Issa released a joint statement with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor(R-VA), and Legislative Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) supporting bulk data as a “very important step” towards transparency. The Legislative Branch Appropriations bill includes language directing a “task force to expedite the process of making public information available to the public.” According to the statement, Boehner, Cantor, Issa, and Crenshaw will “direct the task force to begin its important work immediately,” without waiting for the bill to pass.

UPDATE: More to come soon.