Obama's agencies push flurry of 'midnight' actions
But in Congress, Republicans are warning them to stop and are preparing to repeal those regulations en masse.
by Bob King and Nick Juliano, Politico, 11/27/16 (excerpt)
…As many as 98 final regulations under review at the White House as of Nov. 15 could be implemented before Trump takes office. Seventeen regulations awaiting final approval are considered “economically significant,” with an estimated economic impact of at least $100 million a year.
Miffed congressional leaders are warning the agencies to halt their work on so-called midnight regulations, specifically objecting to Obama’s call earlier this year for “audacious executive action.” In a letter to agency heads on Nov. 15, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and every House committee chairman cautioned them “against finalizing pending rules or regulations in the Administration’s last days.”
“Should you ignore this counsel, please be aware that we will work with our colleagues to ensure that Congress scrutinizes your actions — and, if appropriate, overturns them.”
Trump has promised to wipe out as much of Obama’s regulatory agenda as he can, saying he will cancel “all illegal and overreaching executive orders” and eliminate “every wasteful and unnecessary regulation which kills jobs.”
One powerful weapon at Republicans’ disposal is the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law that essentially allows lawmakers and the president to impose a death penalty on regulations they oppose. Come January, Congress can use the law to repeal any rule that an agency finished after this past May 30, using simple-majority votes — and afterward, agencies will be forbidden to enact any regulation that is “substantially the same.”
Republicans are seeking to make that tool even more powerful by pushing legislation allowing Congress to repeal bunches of regulations en masse instead of one at a time. Some GOP lawmakers are compiling lists of 100 regulations they’d like to kill in the first 100 days, POLITICO reported last week — lists that would include already-completed rules as well as those Obama’s agencies are completing in their year-end sprint.
Other rules may fall victim to court challenges, such as the Obama administration overtime regulation — set to take effect Dec. 1 — that a judge in Texas blocked on Tuesday. And Trump's administration may decide not to defend them….
read … flurry of 'midnight' actions
RELATED: Midnight Regulations in Paradise
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Dear President-Elect Trump:
Please repeal DOI Administrative Rule 43 CFR Part 50 (RIN 1090-AB05).
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