House Passes Legislation to Undo Last Minute Obama Regulations
House Republicans passed legislation Wednesday that would give Congress the power to
overturn dozens of recently enacted regulations with a single vote.
The
Obama administration rammed through $44 billion worth of regulations
since Donald Trump was elected in November—but this legislation would
put an end to ‘midnight rules,’ or those rolled out in the last 60
legislative days of an outgoing administration.
"Because
outgoing administrations are no longer accountable to the voters, they
are much more prone to issue midnight regulations that fly in the face
of the electoral mandate the voters just gave the new, incoming
administration," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte
ahead of the vote. "Waves of midnight rules can also be very hard for
Congress or a new administration to check adequately."
The
bill specifically amends the Congressional Review Act to permit
Congress to retrieve the ability to effectively curb numerous
regulations crammed through the regulatory process in the last days of
an outgoing administration all at once. The legislation is designed to
stifle a growing trend by presidents to use their final few months in
office to hurry through costly, expensive or controversial new
regulations.
“This is about accountability,
transparency and ensuring job creators aren’t being crushed by droves of
new regulations just before a President leaves office. Regulations,
when necessary, should be implemented with time for a thorough public
vetting and input from those impacted,” Rep. Darrell Issa, lead sponsor
of the bill, said in a statement. “I’m thrilled at the House’s quick
passage of my bill and look forward to it becoming law so we can start the process of removing unnecessary regulations and helping Americans
get back to work.”
The Senate will soon take up companion
legislation, but it could be more difficult to pass given that eight
Democratic votes will be needed.
“A drone with a video camera which crashed in a wooded area on Mount
Hevron revealed a European Union (EU) espionage operation intended to
spy on and gather intelligence about Jewish communities in Judea and
Samaria….The residents took the drone to the Regavim Movement for
Preservation of State Lands, which examined the drone and was […]
Donald Trump, in characteristic bold style, took to Twitter to fight
back at Democrats who are gearing up to oppose Obamacare’s repeal,
specifically honing in on Sen. Chuck Schumer and his nationally
televised attacks on the president-elect.
House Republicans passed legislation Wednesday that would give Congress the power to overturn dozens of recently enacted regulations with a single vote.
Last month, Abdul Razak Ali Artan — an 18-year-old Muslim refugee from
Somalia, who was receiving aid from Catholic charities — rammed his car
into a building at Ohio State University. He then got out and stabbed
people with a butcher knife, sending 13 people to the hospital before he
was gunned down by police. […]
However, Donald Trump urged Obama to not transfer any more detainees,
and reiterated that he would continue to keep Guantanamo open as
president.
