The window of opportunity for using the Congressional Review Act is quickly closing. Congress has only until Tuesday to overturn overreaching regulations that former President Barack Obama issued during the final months of his second term.
Lawmakers have made encouraging progress working with the Trump administration in using the CRA to overturn regulations since the beginning of the year. To date, President Trump has signed 13 such resolutions. This is no small feat given the myriad other priorities competing for floor time in Congress such as repealing Obamacare and considering nominations.
The CRA is an important tool that restores the role of Congress in the rule-making process. A concerning amount of this power has been delegated to executive agencies over the course of the Obama administration, which gave free rein to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to write rules that carry the weight of law. Passing resolutions of disapproval under the CRA is a quick and effective way to rein in overreach, bring regulatory relief to the American people and prevent agencies from issuing similar expansions in the future.
Back in January, my organization, Americans for Prosperity, led a nationwide coalition of more than 50 organizations in sending a letter to Congress urging support for exercising the CRA for exactly this purpose. Good to see congressional leaders allow time on the Senate and House floors for lawmakers to vote on these important measures and deliver much-needed relief from overreaching Obama-era regulations that American families and small businesses badly need.
One highlight was overturning the Department of Interior’s innocuously called Stream Water Protection Rule, which would have put more than half of the nation’s coal reserves off limits and overriden state permitting standards. Another was overturning the Bureau of Land Management’s problematic “Planning 2.0” rule, which attempted to limit public involvement in decision-making and further lengthen already-long permitting processes.
With time running out and with the House of Representatives in recess for the week, one low-hanging fruit is the CRA resolution overturning the BLM methane flaring rule. This resolution has stalled in the Senate despite already passing the House with a vote of 221-191and despite finding strong support among conservative organizations and industries off Capitol Hill. Trump even issued a formal statement indicating that he would sign it if it reaches his desk.
Particularly concerning is the opposition of a number of Republicans—Sens. Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham are firm “no” votes, and Sens. Rob Portman, Cory Gardner, and Dean Heller are having cold feet. This indicates their support for keeping Obama’s regulatory agenda intact and prolonging restrictions against their constituents’ access to affordable and reliable energy. On the other side of the political aisle, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and her ambivalence toward overturning the Methane flaring rule is particularly concerning given the importance of the natural gas industry in North Dakota.
While exercising the CRA is an important part of protecting American families and businesses from regulatory overreach of the past eight years, there’s much left to do. Further efforts will involve partnership among executive agencies and Congress.
Thankfully, the EPA is hard at work in dismantling the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rules. So is the Department of the Interior in reviewing the past abuses of the Antiquities Act by previous administration in declaring national monuments.
Washington lawmakers had a strong start to the year, and they should keep up the hard work.
Christine Harbin (@ChrissyHarbin) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is vice president of external affairs for Americans for Prosperity.
If you would like to write an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, please read our guidelines on submissions here.
