As Donald Trump announces his cabinet picks and develops his policy priorities, many of the Biden administration’s final policy measures could soon be rolled back and permanently prohibited, thanks to Democratic gambles and an obscure federal law increasingly weaponized by Republican lawmakers.
Leaning on a piece of 1996 legislation called the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the incoming Trump administration and a Republican Congress will be empowered to easily repeal at least eight hundred of President Joe Biden’s final regulatory initiatives, including victories such as lead poisoning protections, methane emission reductions, strengthened childcare programs, and automatic flight refunds.
Republicans now look set to control the Senate and the House as final races are called around the country, giving them a governing trifecta they could use to wipe away these rules and dramatically shift the regulatory landscape — though it remains unclear if Trump’s latest appointments could jeopardize this majority.
Passed by a Republican-controlled Congress but signed into law by Democratic president Bill Clinton, the CRA empowers Congress to exert more power over the executive branch. In this case, the law allows lawmakers to use an expedited procedure to repeal recently enacted agency rules — even if the rules took years to develop and were initially ordered by acts of Congress. Usually, legislation reversing government rules requires at least sixty Senate votes to overcome a potential filibuster, but under the CRA, recent rules can be revoked through a simple majority vote of fifty-one senators. Republicans are set to have at least a fifty-two-member Senate majority.
Republicans are set to control the Senate and the House, giving them…
Auteur: Lucy Dean Stockton
