A Senate Republican called on the Obama administration Tuesday to halt implementation of all major new regulations, on the grounds that they are likely to be reversed by the unified GOP government next year anyway.
In a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson asked him to “acknowledge the reality of the situation and avoid imposing unnecessary costs and burdens” involved in the rules.
“On Nov. 8, the American people voiced their disapproval of a federal government run by regulation and executive fiat,” Johnson wrote. “The incoming administration and the 115th Congress will likely re-examine and unwind burdensome regulations imposed by the Obama administration.”
Johnson was specifically warning against the implementation of a rule extending overtime benefits to many people earning up to $47,500, and another rule that would impose a legal standard requiring investment advisers to act in their clients’ best interests, a measure meant to crack down on conflicts of interest in retirement advice.
Those rules are major late-term initiatives of President Obama that are favored by Democrats, but would likely face reversal in the administration of President-elect Trump.
This year, the Republican Senate and House voted to undo the conflicts-of-interest rule. Obama, however, vetoed the measure to block the rule, a major second-term priority for Democrats.
Although Obama and many consumer advocates favor the stricter legal standard in order to prevent advisers from bilking their clients by steering them into high-cost investment products for which they receive kickbacks, Republicans have claimed that the rule will raise costs and prevent some savers from getting financial advice.
As chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Johnson produced a report that said the rule would raise compliance costs for advisers to small businesses. It also said the Labor Department ignored recommendations from career officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission when it was finalizing the rule.
Johnson, a first-term senator, won re-election last month in a surprise victory in Wisconsin. He also warned the administration against finalizing a Food and Drug Administration rule on e-cigarettes, and an Environmental Protection Agency rule on waterways.
