Making Congress great again
It hasn’t exactly been a smooth first week for the Republican-controlled 115th Congress. On Monday, House Republicans voted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics—only to reverse their decision a day later after receiving harsh backlash from constituents, ethics watchdogs and President-elect Donald Trump himself.
But despite the bad optics of the OCE fiasco, which dominated the news cycle, House Republicans actually took some important steps this week to improve democratic accountability and strengthen their ability to carry out their constitutional role in our system of checks and balances.
On Wednesday, the House passed the Midnight Rule Relief Act, a bill that protects Americans from a last-minute avalanche of Obama administration regulations by allowing Congress to repeal any rule finalized in the last 60 days of the administration with a single vote. And on Thursday, the House passed the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which provides a meaningful check on regulations by requiring Congress to vote on any executive branch regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more.
Both ideas have been supported by Republicans in Congress for a while, and the REINS Act has passed the House three times – in the 112th, 113th and 114th Congresses. Now, with a Republican-controlled Senate and an incoming Republican administration, there’s hope that they will finally be enacted as law.
While House Republicans should be applauded for passing these important bills and placing such high priority on regulatory reform during their first week in session, there remains much to be done to stem regulatory overreach. For one, the bills obviously still have to pass the Senate and be signed by President Trump—not necessarily a given, since they actively weaken the power of the executive branch. And even if they are signed into law, clawing back power from the massive regulatory state remains a formidable task that requires continued vigilance and reform.
There are many other reform ideas and regulation-whacking tools at Congress’ disposal that should continue to be pursued and given due consideration in the 115th Congress. R Street Governance Project Director Kevin Kosar has highlighted a number of promising reform ideas, including regulatory budgeting, utilizing the Congressional Review Act and creating a nonpartisan Congressional Regulation Office to analyze significant regulations.
As House Republicans turn their attention to what will be the defining feature of their first 100 days in session—the repeal and replace of Obamacare—it’s important that legislators continue to pursue sensible regulatory reform and hold the executive branch accountable. The time may be ripe for Republican and Democratic lawmakers to come together in the effort to Make Congress Great Again.
