FORKS Act Makes 'Made in America' Kitchenware Rule Permanent: No More Expiration Date

The Federal Ordinance Requiring Kitchenware Specifically Made in America Permanency Act of 2025—mercifully nicknamed the FORKS Act—is a textbook example of a procedural bill with a very specific goal. Simply put, this legislation is designed to make a previous federal rule permanent by eliminating its expiration date. While the title suggests it’s about spoons and skillets, this bill is actually about the legislative calendar.

The Fine Print: Striking the Sunset Clause

This bill’s entire action is contained in Section 2, which removes the “sunset provision” from a prior law (Section 842 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025). A sunset provision is just bureaucratic language for a built-in expiration date. Congress often includes these when they want to test-drive a new policy, forcing them to review and re-authorize it after a few years. By striking subsection (c), the FORKS Act ensures that the previous rule—whatever it was, related to American-made kitchenware—will now continue indefinitely.

What Permanency Means for Regular Life

Since this bill is only about keeping a previous rule alive, the real-world impact hinges on what the original rule actually did. Assuming the original rule required federal agencies (like the military or VA hospitals) to buy kitchenware made in the U.S., making it permanent provides certainty for those domestic manufacturers. If you run a small business making commercial-grade stainless steel cutlery in Ohio, this bill locks in a guaranteed federal customer base, potentially securing jobs and investment in that sector.

However, removing a sunset clause also eliminates the mandatory checkup. The original law was set to expire, which would have forced Congress to review whether the ‘Made in America’ mandate was still effective, cost-efficient, and necessary. Now, that policy is essentially set on autopilot. While this is a low-concern procedural change, it’s a reminder that once a policy is made permanent, it’s much harder to change later, even if the market shifts or the rule proves inefficient down the road. For the taxpayer, this means the cost structure of the previous rule is now locked in without a mandated review.