When Congress is frustratingly evenly divided, like today’s Senate, it takes a shrewd member to out-trick the old bulls and even presidents.
Take Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), for example. A first-termer in the GOP minority who ranks 80th in seniority, his chance of pushing through big projects is as likely as finding a rare morel mushroom in his snow-covered Indiana woods at Christmas.
STORMY DANIELS SAYS PASS THE CHAMPAGNE AFTER TRUMP INDICTMENT
But Braun, a noted fungus forager back home, has found a way to make his mark and slow President Joe Biden’s schemes through an obscure 27-year-old rule last used by former President Donald Trump to dismantle Obama-era regulations.
And now others in the Senate and House are seizing on his model use of the Congressional Review Act to tackle the worst of Biden’s agenda, including paying off student loans of deadbeat debtors and regulating AR-15-style pistols.
This week the effort struck pay dirt with the votes to end the COVID-19 public health emergency. Biden has said he won’t veto it.
“When we saw what the Schumer Senate was going to look like, juxtaposed to the McCarthy House, I don’t know that there was going to be much of any substance that could pass both chambers,” Braun said. “I think the Democrats are even going to push in places that may be a little more noxious.”
So he has turned to the Congressional Review Act, which lets members invalidate bureaucratic rules with a simple majority. The procedure was written for new presidents and congresses to tackle so-called midnight regulations put in place by departing presidents. What is different about Braun’s approach is that it has interpreted a wider use to tackle a sitting president’s agenda.
One notable effort ended with Biden’s veto, his first, of Braun’s successful use of the Congressional Review Act to stop the administration’s demand for environmental, social, and corporate governance retirement fund investing. Despite the veto, investors said the challenge to ESG funding, passed in both houses, scared them away from going heavy into the funds, a symbolic victory for Braun.
I was proud to lead the charge in the Senate to keep Biden and his woke policies away from hard working Hoosiers’ retirement savings. The President should sign this bipartisan bill to stand up for American workers and their future!https://t.co/QL7CBiknHv
— Mike Braun (@braun4indiana) March 10, 2023
Using the “arcane” Congressional Review Act to limit regulations was part of Braun’s bid to make an impact fast. “That’s, I think, the beauty of our office, which is a freshman office. We put together an enterprising legislative staff, and we looked for opportunities that others may not,” he said.
It drew applause from deregulation advocates. “Sen. Braun’s efforts to strike Biden’s regulatory excesses are vital,” said Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
“Biden may continue to veto Braun’s resolutions despite the bipartisan support they may bring to the table. But this is no exercise in futility. The public needs to see where the far Left stands on Biden’s slate of anti-constitutional progressive incursions,” Crews said.
He was also just named the sixth most effective member in the Senate, a feat since those ahead of him on the Center for Effective Lawmaking list have served for at least 12 years versus his four.
Too many career politicians are all talk. I come from the business world where results speak for themselves. I am proud of my record as one of the most effective Senators in DC and I look forward to continuing to deliver for Hoosiers.https://t.co/hvlIE0Dn3M
— Mike Braun (@braun4indiana) March 23, 2023
It also made the job fun in a chamber where junior Republicans are largely ignored. “It does,” Braun told Secrets.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
But that he had to resort to the Congressional Review Act to have an impact may be one of the reasons he’s leaving the Senate to run for governor of Indiana.
“I’ve never thought this to be a complicated business. In fact, to be quite honest, I think most creative people in the movers and shakers in this country don’t come to the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. I think they are entrepreneurs and folks, do these kinds of things, where the results are more measurable,” he said, adding, “With what I know now and where I see this place going, it to me wasn’t worth investing another six years.”
