House passes bill to overturn ‘midnight’ regulations en masse

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Draining the swamp by undoing Obama’s illegal Executive actions. Via The Hill

Legislation to allow Congress to repeal in a single vote any rule finalized in the last 60 legislative days of the Obama administration sailed through the House Wednesday, the second time in less than two months.

The GOP-backed Midnight Rule Relief Act, which passed the previous Congress in November, was approved largely along party lines by a vote of 238-184 on the second day of the new Congress, despite Democratic opposition.

If passed by the Senate and signed by President-elect Donald Trump, the legislation would amend the Congressional Review Act to allow lawmakers to bundle together multiple rules and overturn them en masse with a joint resolution of disapproval.

The White House has already threatened to veto the bill if it were to make it to President Obama’s desk before he leaves office.

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) criticized Republicans for bringing the bill to the floor so soon.

“I’m surprised that without hearings, without opportunity for amendment, we are now considering a measure that has this much opposition,” he said.

The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), which claims to represent a network of more than 250,000 businesses, sent a letter to members of the House on Wednesday urging them to oppose this “anti-regulatory” measure.

“This would be like taking a chainsaw into surgery,” David Levine, ASBC’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.

“Businesses depend on good regulations to set clear boundaries and rules for fair competition on a level playing field.”

Instead, Levine claims that the Midnight Rules Relief Act would enable Congress to undo batches of rules without any consideration of their individual merits.

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