'Review' time: Congress looks to its own regulatory veto process

It may seem that President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are solely responsible for dismantling the federal bureaucracy while Congress sits idly by cheering (or jeering) them on. The dynamic duo is often credited for wielding such metaphorical demolition devices as chain saws, sledgehammers, wrecking-balls and wood-chippers.

For instance, when President Trump, took office Jan. 20, he signed one executive order repealing 78 regulations promulgated during the Biden presidency, and another order requiring agencies to repeal 10 regulations for every new one they propose.

But Congress has a more targeted process available — less divisive and less subject to court challenges. It is called the Congressional Review Act of 1996. It was the brainchild of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and pert of his Contract with America in the 104th Congress.

Perhaps ironically, Democratic President Bill Clinton signed the measure into law, even though his regulations would most immediately be on the chopping block. He dodged that bullet — the act was never used successfully against any Clinton regulations.

Under the Congressional Review Act, any proposed federal regulation must be published in the Federal Register at least 60 legislative days in advance. If, during that review period, both houses pass disapproval resolutions and the president signs them into law (or his veto is overridden), the regulations are blocked and the administration may not propose a similar regulation.

Prior to 2017, the law had only been used successfully once, when Congress blocked a regulation being proposed by President George W. Bush in 2001. When President Donald Trump took office in 2017, the Republican-controlled 115th Congress passed a flurry of 14 disapproval resolutions of proposed regulations left pending from the Obama administration. A 15th resolution passed the House but failed to pass the Senate.

Data compiled by Sarah Hay with the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University, covering the 115th Congress (2017-2018) through the 118th Congress (2023-2024), shows that 368 disapproval resolutions were introduced over that eight-year period, but only 31 passed Congress and only 19 became law. The remaining 12 were vetoed by the president and not overridden. In the most recent 118th Congress (2023-24), 11 disapproval resolutions cleared both houses of Congress, but all were vetoed by Biden. The success rate corresponds to periods when both houses of Congress and the president belong to the same party.

At the beginning of the current 119th Congress, the new Republican-controlled House, anticipating a spate of proposed last-minute Biden administration regulations, passed a measure titled, The Midnight Rules Relief Act. The bill provided that either house could bundle multiple proposed regulations into a single disapproval resolution to expedite their consideration and floor votes. While the House passed the measure, 212-208 on Feb. 12, it has been reposing in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ever since.

In the meantime, the House passed two disapproval resolutions of Biden administration regulations last week, dealing with water heater standards and waste emission charges. Three other disapproval resolutions are scheduled for House consideration this week. They cover proposed Biden administration regulations on marine archaeological resources, rubber tire manufacturing emissions and appliance standards.

While the president is taking victory laps for the regulations he supposedly deep-sixed on his first day of office, as well as his other dramatic orders, the background noise of various court challenges to those and other matters persists. The president surely recognizes that, to the extent that some of his initiatives will be tossed-out by the courts either on constitutional or statutory grounds, the day will come when he must turn to Congress for essential backup for achieving his 100-day policy agenda.

The Congressional Review Act is a limited tool for curbing excessive regulations. However, a Government Accountability Office opinion in 2017, backed by the Senate parliamentarian, concludes that even decades-old-regulations that were never published in the Federal Register also qualify for CRA treatment as proposed regulations subject to disapproval resolutions. Moreover, Congress can always enact bills that repeal longstanding regulations.

As previous presidents have lost much of their popular support, and that of Congress, in the second half of their four-year terms, they tend to turn to executive orders to circumvent the Hill. Trump has turned that operating model on its head by gambling on the riskier, faster approach up-front. If that back-end-first approach meets with only partial success, he is hoping to retain sufficient sway with his party in Congress to enact most of what remains. It’s called leading from behind.

Don Wolfensberger is a 28-year congressional staff veteran, culminating as chief-of-staff of the House Rules Committee in 1995. He is author of “Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial” (2000), and, “Changing Cultures in Congress: From Fair Play to Power Plays (2018).

Topics

FCA looks for policies to scrap as it slows ‘pace of regulatory change’

UK financial watchdog’s moves come as Keir Starmer urges regulators to consider impact of their measures on growth
Financial Times - Feb. 27
NCAA Rules Committee takes aim at fake injuries, but primitive call-and-review process needs fixing first

Give refs a chance to say 'I don't know'
CBS Sports - Feb. 21
NFL and its competition committee reviewing overtime rules

The NFL is considering changing overtime rules in the regular season to decrease the advantage for teams who win the coin toss
ABC News - Feb. 26
The ‘west’ is over. In the Trumpian era, Europe is on its own | Alexander Hurst

Trump and JD Vance are clear: the US is no longer an ally, but an antagonist to democratic values. In 1966, after years of friction with the US over whether France should have its own independent ...
The Guardian - Feb. 21
D1 Capital’s bet on European turnarounds aids its own recovery

Daniel Sundheim’s hedge fund was under water but made a windfall from Siemens Energy and Rolls-Royce trades
Financial Times - Feb. 25
Europe juggles protecting Ukraine with rebuilding its own defences

Also in this newsletter: the free market case for more green subsidies
Financial Times - 3d
Philips GamePix 900 Review: Good Looks, Insane Value

This projector has remarkable picture quality, but few features beyond gaming performance.
Wired - 1d
Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus Review: Hot Looks for Less

This blow-dry brush performs just as well as its pricey competitors, give or take a little frizz.
Wired - 4h
Two Point Museum review – curate your own fun in this museum management game

PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox; Two Point Studios/Sega This humorous management game puts you in charge of creating entertaining displays on everything from natural history to the paranormal. All was ...
The Guardian - 1d
Congress needs to put DOGE in a time out

While Musk has made a career out of pushing the boundaries of industry norms and government regulations, there’s a fine line between disruption and outright illegality. DOGE is crossing that line.
The Hill - 6d
Forget Stargate. Apple now has its own $500 billion investment plan.

Apple is matching the amount of the Stargate AI joint venture — and building goodwill with the new administration in a familiar approach.
MarketWatch - Feb. 24
Sony looks to sell streaming rights to ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ for the first time

Sony Pictures Entertainment said Thursday that it is moving to sell streaming rights to “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune,” two hit programs that have so far remained only available on traditional ...
MarketWatch - 6d
How a national-security review made AppLovin America’s hottest stock — and its founders billionaires

Who says government can’t create wealth? CFIUS, an obscure panel playing an increasing market role, blocked the sale of AppLovin years before a stock-market bonanza.
MarketWatch - Feb. 21
Dope Girls review – the dodgy accents could give Peaky Blinders a run for its money

This fun, gory tale of women trying to set up a nightclub in the 1918 Soho underworld is lively – even if it tries to cram too much in. Shame about the ropey vocal affectations …. The Peaky ...
The Guardian - Feb. 22
AeroPress Premium Review: The Cult Favorite Brand’s Plastic-Free Coffeemaker Mostly Hits Its Marks

The expensive plastic-free coffee press from AeroPress makes espresso-ish coffee with glass, metal, and a few manageable quirks.
Wired - 1d
'You kind of sprint up a mountain': A look at ski mountaineering ahead of its Olympic debut

Emily Harrop of France and Spain's Oriol Cardona Coll won World Cup ski mountaineering races that served as a test event for next year's Olympics
ABC News - Feb. 24
Ultrasound now needed for pill abortions in Wyoming after lawmakers override veto

Women planning pill abortions in Wyoming will need to get an ultrasound after lawmakers overrode the governor's veto of the new measure
ABC News - 15h
The LA Times’ AI ‘bias meter’ looks like a bid to please Donald Trump | Margaret Sullivan

The paper’s billionaire owner, who barred it from endorsing Kamala Harris, is leaving human journalists out of the equation. The past few months have been brutal ones for the readers and ...
The Guardian - 1d
BaFin fines Deutsche Bank €23mn for string of regulatory lapses

German financial watchdog metes out second highest fine in its history
Financial Times - 1d
Visa and Mastercard face regulatory action over lack of competition

UK payments regulator says card duopoly’s sharp fee increases are costing businesses £170mn extra a year
Financial Times - 7h
Trump to deliver prime-time address before Congress as policy shake-ups test key alliances

President Donald Trump on Tuesday night will deliver a joint address to Congress, where he is expected to lay out his efforts to rapidly slash the size of the federal government.
NBC News - 1d
FirstFT: Trump declares ‘we are just getting started’ in longest address to Congress in modern times

Also in today’s newsletter, China sets out ambitious growth target and Arab states present alternate Gaza plan
Financial Times - 1d
As Ukraine war reaches 3-year mark, Russia seems to have time on its side

Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine three years ago has turned into Europe’s largest conflict since World War II
ABC News - Feb. 20
Technology is speeding up tax season, but not the audit process

Politicians on both sides of the political aisles should relish giving their constituents a much-deserved psychological rest after completing their tax-return filing duties.
The Hill - Feb. 25
Funeral procession for Bibas family under way in Israel

Yahoo News - Feb. 26
Who Gets to Own Scotland?

A new land-reform bill aims to unwind a long history of inequality. But centuries of feudalism are difficult to shake.
The New York Times - Feb. 26
Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy party says it will begin process of disbanding

Democratic party chair Lo Kin-hei would not comment on whether Beijing put pressure on members. Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy party, which became an influential voice of opposition before ...
The Guardian - Feb. 21
The remarkable banter of Cory Barlog and Neil Druckmann on the creative process

Cory Barlog and Neil Druckmann had a remarkable conversation at the Dice Summit about their approaches to creativity.
VentureBeat - Feb. 21
Intel launches Xeon 6 processors with performance cores for 2X AI processing

Intel is launching its new Intel Xeon 6 processors with performance-cores, offering better performance across data center workloads and up to two times higher performance in AI processing. The ...
VentureBeat - Feb. 24
Italy defends plan to process asylum-seekers in Albania at EU’s top court

Yahoo News - Feb. 25
'More a procession than a race' - when could Liverpool seal title?

With Liverpool taking a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, BBC Sport looks at when they could wrap up the title.
BBC News - Feb. 26
You.com unveils AI research agent that processes 400+ sources at once

You.com launches ARI, a cutting-edge AI research agent that processes over 400 sources in minutes, revolutionizing market research and empowering faster, more accurate business decision-making.
VentureBeat - Feb. 27
Micron launches new memory chips to keep up with AI processing

Micron announced its first 1y (1-gamma) DDR5 memory chip samples this week, and it says this is part of its contribution to systems that keep up with AI.
VentureBeat - 3d
A Rally in Congress

We cover President Trump’s address to Congress.
The New York Times - 1d
Cabernet Review - Monsters Are Hereditary

There's so much delightful intrigue to uncover with Cabernet 's core message of monsters being hereditary, a concept that initially seems solely meant to draw parallels between the protagonist's ...
GameSpot - Feb. 21
Split Fiction Review

Split Fiction is more than a hilarious, compassionate, and delightful new benchmark for multiplayer experiences--it is a remarkable love letter to creativity, video games, and companionship.
GameSpot - 1d
Betty White is getting her own postage stamp

Legendary TV icon Betty White will be honored in March with a stamp, the U.S. Postal Service announced.
CBS News - Feb. 21
Sources: Fresno athletes played DFS on own stats

Fresno State and the NCAA are investigating allegations that two men's basketball players participated in daily fantasy contests based on their own performances, according to sources.
ESPN - 4d