Jan 15, 2025 - Politics & Policy
Scoop ... Thune's erase-Biden list
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune has a "fairly lengthy list" of last-minute Biden regulations that Republicans may try to undo in the coming weeks, he told us.
- Scoop: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will kick things off next week with resolutions to erase Energy Department rules on gas water heaters, IRS language on crypto, and an FCC regulation on free Wi-Fi hotspots for students.
Why it matters: The Congressional Review Act (CRA) gives Congress until mid-May to reverse what Republicans are calling the "midnight rules" of the Biden administration.
- "We are scrubbing right now to determine what is eligible," Thune said at an event at the American Petroleum Institute yesterday.
How it works: CRA resolutions have to pass with majority votes in both chambers of Congress.
- Those votes can only happen 15 legislative days into a new Congress — the power won't be available until late January or early February.
- The window for action closes 60 sessions into the new Congress.
Flashback: In early 2017, Trump and congressional Republicans used CRA resolutions to erase 16 Obama administration rules.
- In 2021, Biden and congressional Democrats returned the favor and repealed three Trump rules.
The bottom line: Thune wants to be aggressive.
- The law doesn't give a new Congress blanket authority to undo all of the previous administration's final rules and regulations.
- But his team is trying to convince the Senate parliamentarian how they can use the CRA to undo California's tailpipe standard, which would require 100% of new cars sold by 2035 to be zero emission.
— Stef Kight and Hans Nichols
