The House passed legislation Thursday that would allow it to repeal multiple Obama-era regulations at once, which would reduce the risk that some of President Obama’s 11th-hour rules might escape congressional review.
The bill, H.R. 5982, the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016, passed 240-179 along party lines.
“Given the arrogance this president and the administration under his direction continues to exhibit in his last days — with more and more ruthless regulations smothering the American people — this bill is the least we should do to force more accountability on his imperial actions,” said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and a vocal critic of the administration regulations and energy policies.
Under the incoming Trump administration, Congress is expected to begin unraveling a number of energy and environmental regulations, including the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate agenda called the Clean Power Plan. A number of 11th-hour regulations are being finalized as the president departs the White House, which House and Senate members said this week they would immediately target under the CRA.
Bishop urged his colleagues in the Senate to act quickly take up the bill “to put a stop to the president’s midnight madness.” However, if passed and sent to the president’s desk now it would surely be vetoed. Most likely the bill is a place holder for when Trump comes into the White House next year.
Nevertheless, a number of business and conservative think tanks praised the passage of the bill.
“The Obama administration’s regulatory agenda has been damaging to the economy and the destructive to separation of powers in Article I of the Constitution,” said Adam Brandon, CEO of FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group.
“While Congress has a long road ahead to restore Article I and reclaim its power from the executive branch, the Midnight Rules Relief Act is a step toward that goal,” he said. “This bill simply allows Congress, under the Congressional Review Act, to reject multiple last-minute regulations promulgated by federal agencies in a single resolution.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter Wednesday night to all House members urging them to support the bill to ensure against the passage of last-minute regulations by the administration.
The Chamber’s Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten wrote that the bill would reduce “the risk that a poorly-written rule escapes CRA review because there is not enough time for separate debate and votes on each rule.”
The bill was introduced in September by former House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. The bill currently has eight co-sponsors, including House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
This story was updated at 7:41 p.m. to reflect the House vote.
