House passes bill requiring Congressional approval for major regulations
The House today passed a bill requiring Congressional approval for regulations having an economic impact of more than $100 million.
The legislation, dubbed the REINS Act, requires a regulation with an economic impact of more than $100 million annually to be approved by both chambers of Congress before it can take effect. Republicans also attached an amendment that requires agencies, when promulgating new rules, to repeal or amend existing rules to fully offset the economic costs. The House also passed comparable legislation in the last congressional session, but it faltered in the Senate. GOP leaders are taking a renewed crack after President-elect Donald Trump offered his support during the campaign.
Not surprisingly, the Democrats opposed the bill. It is unclear whether the Senate will follow suit, but with Trump in the White House and very much in favor of reducing regulation and the power of the bureaucracy, it is going to be increasingly difficult for the Democrats to block all these legislative bills.
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The House today passed a bill requiring Congressional approval for regulations having an economic impact of more than $100 million.
The legislation, dubbed the REINS Act, requires a regulation with an economic impact of more than $100 million annually to be approved by both chambers of Congress before it can take effect. Republicans also attached an amendment that requires agencies, when promulgating new rules, to repeal or amend existing rules to fully offset the economic costs. The House also passed comparable legislation in the last congressional session, but it faltered in the Senate. GOP leaders are taking a renewed crack after President-elect Donald Trump offered his support during the campaign.
Not surprisingly, the Democrats opposed the bill. It is unclear whether the Senate will follow suit, but with Trump in the White House and very much in favor of reducing regulation and the power of the bureaucracy, it is going to be increasingly difficult for the Democrats to block all these legislative bills.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
The Democrats are very disappointing here. One of the biggest problems is that we’ve gotten away from separation of powers, and most of that comes from Congress deferring too much power to the Executive Branch, with Obamacare being Exhibit A. Instead of a power struggle of Legislative vs. Executive, we have a power struggle of Insiders vs. everyone else.
What the Democrats don’t see is that Trump (or any future president) can use the power that Obama has taken, and effectively enact their own legislation. They are taking Trump at face value and assuming he won’t use big government for his own ends, but I think that’s naive.
If I were Trump (assuming he is sincere about wanting to cut regulations and wants this to pass; by no means a reliable assumption), I would announce a regulation the Democrats would hate that would cost more than $100 million per year, and maybe that’ll wake them up.
Off the top of my head, I can think of requiring power producers to assign round-the-clock monitoring of birds killed by windmills, with very stringent requirements to keep tabs on local bird populations, requirements to stop windmill blades when protected species are within a mile of any turbine blade, and huge, escalating fines for any killed birds, followed by mandatory shutdown until painstaking studies are done to prevent any future occurrences.
Garry– Good stuff!
referencing the windmills– those things kill more Bald Eagles in one year, than DDT ever did.
(It was Nixon and the Republicans that gave us the EPA & their first action was to outlaw DDT.)
I would also note– This type of economic-impact legislation, is included in Mark Levin’s proposed Liberty Amendment’s.
While it’s a good idea, Mitch McConnell doesn’t think so and he & Chuck run the Senate.
Personally– I’m convinced these people are beyond the ability to reign themselves in, I predict it’s all lies and obfuscation.
Referencing the broader picture– an extremely informative discussion from a brilliant legal mind:
Professor Richard Epstein:
“Is the Administrative State Consistent with the Rule of Law?”
1-29-2008
https://youtu.be/PPSglKMzx5o
(1:00:56)
(The short answer is “NO,” the Administrative State is not consistent with the Rule of Law.)
@Garry, Really great idea!
As it is, or was, could the White House interfere specifically in a detailed executive matter? Or must they work with much more generally formulated rules and guidelines for the lower level bureaucrats to interpret and follow (as in Sweden)?
Bureaucracy has grown way beyond what the founding fathers could’ve imagined. Has the executive below the White House has become a new and by the constitution unregulated force of power in the government?