The Senate, mainly on partisan lines, voted to overturn an education regulation imposed during the last several months of the Obama administration that would force states and localities to abide by federal teacher training standards.
The bill overturning the regulation passed 59-40 Wednesday afternoon, and now moves along to President Trump to sign into law. Republicans used the Congressional Review Act, a law allowing Congress to review and unravel new regulations on a simple 51-vote majority.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., earlier Wednesday said Republicans and President Trump are continuing to roll back “unsustainable regulations” that President Obama rushed through during the twilight of his administration.
“Today … we have the opportunity to move past this overreach and empower those closest to our kids once again to ensure our schools are held to high standards,” he said.
The Senate also plans to use the CRA to overturn a broader Department of Education rule, known as the “accountability regulation.” Republicans say the Obama administration imposed the rule to gut a law passed by the GOP-controlled Congress in late 2015 aimed at shifting decision about local public education requirements from the federal government to the states.
