House Budget Bill Includes ‘Most Significant Regulatory Reform Ever,’ Ted Cruz Says

The House Judiciary Committee advanced its portion of the massive budget bill last week, and the legislation includes a provision that would be the “most significant regulatory reform ever,” according to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, which Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., first introduced in 2015, aims to reverse the administrative state’s capture of lawmaking authority from Congress. “Alphabet soup” executive agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency issue far more rules than Congress, but the REINS Act would require every major regulation to be passed by both the House and the Senate, as if it were a law.

“The REINS Act would be the most significant regulatory reform ever enacted,” Cruz told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “It would ensure that any regulation imposing $100 million or more of cost on the economy cannot take effect without an up or down vote from Congress.”

“I strongly support this legislation, as it’s vital for economic growth, and it should be a top priority,” he added.

“Judiciary Committee Republicans moved an ambitious regulatory reform package to aid the Trump administration’s agenda,” Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “We look forward to its final passage in reconciliation.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called the REINS Act a “potential game-changer for restoring constitutional balance.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Politico’s E&E News that he hopes the REINS Act will be in the final bill. Yet E&E News suggested that the provision may run afoul of strict Senate rules governing the reconciliation process.

Although Democrats may vehemently oppose the bill, their minority status likely limits their ability to block it.

“It would be a war on regulations,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Politico. “To take that authority away from the executive branch would be a serious mistake.”

Democrats tend to favor the progressive approach, which prefers bureaucratic solutions to political problems, trusting “experts” to make decisions on policy. Republicans, on the other hand, often distrust government power and favor limiting executive agencies. They warn that bureaucrats sometimes oppose the elected president’s agenda, acting as a “deep state.”

The post House Budget Bill Includes ‘Most Significant Regulatory Reform Ever,’ Ted Cruz Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.