If you learned only about the three branches of government, the Congressional Review Act may seem rather obscure. Yet, it’s a valuable tool in gradually restoring constitutional norms. Republicans now have an opportunity to use it liberally.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to make laws, stating, “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” The Constitution vests “executive Power” in the president. The judicial branch holds judicial power, enabling it to settle disputes.
This brilliant system creates checks and balances. As James Madison wrote in Federalist 51, “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” The Founding Fathers knew that human beings were flawed. Madison noted, “It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government.”
Madison knew this created a challenge. He wrote, “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
He was right, but the system has flaws. Over the decades, more and more members of Congress elevated getting re-elected above wielding power. Beginning in the 1930s with the New Deal, Congress passed many laws granting broad regulatory authority to executive branch agencies. That has only grown over the decades.
Consider recent government efforts to ban gas stoves or gasoline-power cars. An obvious question: Which elected officials would dare vote for that? Those are deeply unpopular proposals in most areas of the country.
There are consequences to Congress ceding wide swaths of its authority to a massive administration state. Bureaucrats in those agencies have wide leeway to impose their preferences as regulations, acting as de facto lawmakers by “interpreting” vague federal statutes. This insulates politicians from voter backlash.
Enter the 1996 Congressional Review Act. It provides Congress with a 60-day window to review major regulatory proposals before they take effect. It is most likely to be used when either the presidency or one or more houses of Congress changes hands. That’s precisely what happened in November, giving Republicans control of the legislative and executive branches.
Congressional Republicans can now move quickly to overturn a variety of last-minute Biden rules. As The Wall Street Journal reports, last year, regulators added more than 100,000 pages to the Federal Register.
Some regulations Congress should roll back include restrictions on tankless gas water heaters, rules that are pumping up the current housing bubble, and a waiver allowing California to mandate consumers purchase EVs. Several Consumer Financial Protection Bureau actions should be done away with as well.
Republicans have a short window. They shouldn’t dither.
