House Republicans on Thursday unveiled a proposal that they believe will put the brakes on executive branch overreach and restore the power of Congress to write laws.
“We can’t rely on the courts alone to protect our rights,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “If you have to file a lawsuit, you’ve already been violated. That is why we need the other branches, especially the legislative branch, to remain strong, so they can defend our rights when another branch attacks them.”
Republicans devised the plan, part of its six-part national agenda, in reaction to rules and regulations put forward by the Obama administration that they say are burdensome and aimed at circumventing Congress.
“Presidents can veto, Supreme Courts can strike down, but Congress is the exclusive seat of lawmaking power,” said Republican Conference Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Not some guy in the basement of the Labor Department.”
The Labor Department’s overtime rule is among the latest of many Obama administration regulations the GOP opposes. It raises the threshold of those who qualify for overtime pay to salaried employees who earn $47,000 or less. Republicans believe it will force employers to cut jobs, increase the costs of goods and services, and hike compliance costs for businesses.
The GOP plan would slow down new regulations by requiring Congress to approve “all major rules” put forward by the executive branch.
“These rules carry the force of law but they have never been voted on by the people’s representatives,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, said when Republicans unveiled the plan Thursday in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
House Republicans have taken dozens of votes to block Obama administration regulations and have also challenged the president’s actions in court.
The GOP plan would require more scrutiny of government rules and regulations and their economic toll, and would force a re-assessment of old rules that may need elimination or rewriting.
Republicans also pledged to use “the power of the purse” to stop executive branch overreach. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., pledged to “retain and tighten its power over federal appropriations” by “limiting and conditioning funds to enforce congressional intent.”
Rogers warned that Congress can best exert power over spending when lawmakers pass individual spending bills, which it has been unable to do in decades.
