Senate GOP plots to erase Biden's final moves
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has a "fairly lengthy list" of last-minute Biden regulations that Republicans may try to undo in the coming weeks, he told Axios.
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.
- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will kick things off next week by introducing three resolutions to erase Biden moves on crypto, energy and internet access.
- "We are scrubbing right now to determine what is eligible," Thune said at an event at the American Petroleum Institute earlier on Tuesday.
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- In 2021, Biden and congressional Democrats returned the favor and repealed three Trump rules.
What they're saying: Cruz, who chairs the Commerce committee, told Axios that he is confident that his three resolutions will pass. He expects the process to move "expeditiously" after he files next week.
- One resolution would rescind a December regulation by the Energy Department that regulated gas water heaters.
- Another would undo an IRS rule — finalized last month — that has sparked outrage in crypto circles. The rule requires more reporting on income earned in cryptocurrencies. Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) — who chairs the new crypto subcommittee— Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) are cosponsors.
- Cruz's final target is a FCC regulation that allow schools and libraries to lend Wifi hotspots to students through the E-Rate program. Cruz argued it violates the Communications Act, increases taxes and "opens up children to real risks of abuse" with no limits on their broadband usage.
What to watch: The law doesn't give a new Congress blanket authority to undo all of the previous administration's final rules and regulations.
- But Thune's 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.
- "We are looking for lots of opportunities in that space and trying to argue with the parliamentarian," Thune said at the API event. "The whole California waiver issue … was such a radical regulatory overreach."
