As Congress returns this week, the House is poised to consider legislation that would require federal agencies to seek congressional approval before major rules go into effect.
As one of its first pieces of legislation, the House this week will consider the “Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS)” Act.
The legislation passed the House during the last Congress, but never was considered by the Senate. President Obama opposed the legislation, but President-elect Donald Trump has called for loosening federal rules.
Credit union trade groups endorsed the legislation as part of their efforts to gain relief from federal regulations.
The bill, which is expected to be identical to the one the House passed in the last congressional session, would require federal agencies to submit to Congress all rules that have an impact of $100 million or more on the economy.
The legislation would require Congress to pass within 60 days and the president to sign a joint resolution approving before the rule could take effect.
“Our federal agencies are out of control, and Congress is partly to blame for that,” Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) the bill’s primary sponsor said. “We’ve ceded our legislative responsibility to agencies that were never intended to make laws, and the result has been redundant, counterproductive rules that have massive impacts on our economy.”
Democrats vehemently opposed the legislation last year and are expected to do so again this year.
“The REINS Act will severely restrict agency rulemaking by adding numerous procedural hurdles to the rulemaking process and, as a result of these unworkable procedures for congressional consideration of major rules, well-financed industry representatives will have yet another opportunity to stop major rules from going into effect,” the Democrats said last year in a committee report on the bill.
