[Moonman62]

Congress can exempt federal laws from the RFRA. I don’t think it would have a chance of passing, though. The Hobby Lobby decision was mostly about the applicability of the RFRA rather than a constitutional case.

[Vigilanteman]

You are correct. However, normally, special legislation is to grant something positive. The best example I can recall off hand was the case of an Asian immigrant kid in our town who was mentally challenged and unable to pass the U.S. Citizenship test. He was well-liked and deeply patriotic. Our high school civics class wrote letters to our congressman and U.S. Senators and special legislation to make him a citizen passed before the term was over.

Special legislation to apply something negative is much tougher. If this is what Harry Reid means when he calls for doing something about the Hobby Lobby case, I cannot think of any precedent, though I'm sure there must be something such as some of the stuff Lincoln did during the Civil War.

Under normal circumstances, special legislation to apply something negative would fall in the same general category as a Bill of Attainder or an Ex-Post Facto law and be thrown out.