Newhouse Introduces Bill to Strengthen Congress’ Constitutional Authority

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) and more than half of the House Republican Conference to introduce the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act). This bill requires all new major regulations from the Executive Branch – those with an economic impact of $100 million or more – to receive an up-or-down vote in both the House and the Senate, as well as the signature of the President, before the regulation can be enforced on the American public.

"Reining in the power of the Executive Branch is long overdue, and this legislation is commonsense," said Rep. Newhouse. "Some of the greatest concerns I hear about from small business owners, farmers, and localities in Central Washington are the high costs of complying with expensive and burdensome federal regulations. Giving Congress more oversight of these rules – especially those that have a major impact on our economy – will increase accountability and help to strengthen our constitutional authority."

The REINS Act passed the House in the 114^th and 115^th Congress with Rep. Newhouse as a cosponsor.

Full text of the bill can be found here.

Background:

The REINS Act of 2021 would reassert Congress's role in the legislative process by requiring every new "major rule" proposed by federal agencies to be approved by Congress before being finalized and going into effect. Specifically, both the House and Senate would be required to pass a Joint Resolution of approval for a major rule.

The bill defines a "major rule" as any federal rule or regulation that may result in:

1. an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more;
2. a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or
3. significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises.

The bill also preserves the authority for Congress to disapprove of a nonmajor rule through a joint resolution of disapproval.