Free Republic

President Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, issued a memo Friday night telling federal agencies to not issue any more regulations. Hours after his boss was sworn into office, Priebus told the agencies not to send any regulation to the Federal Register until the rule is reviewed and approved by the new president's appointed agency head. Any rule that’s already been sent to the Office of the Federal Register but not yet published must be withdrawn, the order says. For rules that were published in the last 60 days, Priebus told agencies to publish a notice to delay the effective...

The House on Thursday passed legislation that would allow Congress to overturn in a single vote any regulations finalized in the last days of the Obama administration. Despite Democratic opposition, the Midnight Rule Relief Act passed largely along party lines, by a 240-179 vote. The bill would amend the Congressional Review Act to allow Congress to overturn many rules all at once by way of a resolution. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) urged his colleagues on the floor Thursday morning to pass the legislation and tell the American people that lawmakers heard them on Election Day loud and clear. “The American...

The Republican-led House on Thursday approved a bill that would require congressional approval before any major regulation can take effect, a reflection of GOP frustration with what they consider onerous rules from eight years of the Obama administration. The House passed the measure overwhelmingly along party lines, 237-187. The vote is just one of several that GOP leaders are planning in the early days of the 115th Congress to overhaul how regulations are made and to repeal specific rules enacted during President Barack Obama’s final months in office. Supporters argued that excessive government regulations have led to higher prices for...

Regulation: As President Obama continues his bizarre last-minute regulatory siege without letup, Donald Trump has made it clear he'll undo most of the unneeded rules once he's in office. And Congress hopes to make it very easy for him to do. As he heads for the exits, Obama is engaged in a frenzy of regulation, intended to hamstring American businesses and reward green groups and unions. But while the pace has picked up recently, it's really nothing new. As Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner has noted, Obama's "lame duck administration poured on thousands more new regulations in 2016 at...

Congressional pushback against excessive regulation is long overdue. That’s not the fault of Republicans, who have repeatedly pushed for laws that give greater legislative oversight since taking control of the House in 2011, only to be thwarted by Barack Obama and Democrats. Fresh off of another round of executive actions, Kerry Picket reports that Darrell Issa has reintroduced legislation that will allow Congress to block lame-duck regulation sprees in toto: Republicans have put forward a plan to stop Obama administration’s last minute regulations Tuesday. These “midnight regulations” published after the 2016 presidential election could cost the American taxpayer over...

President-elect Donald Trump is stocking his administration with businessmen and regulatory reformers who are intent on cutting through what they see as red tape from Washington. Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor, will oversee the Trump administration’s regulatory reform efforts. He will be joined by several other Wall Street investors and corporate executives who have first-hand experience dealing with government rules. Here are six figures in the Trump administration poised to have an outsized role in scaling back regulations. Regulatory adviser Carl Icahn Trump created a new position in the White House for the billionaire investor to serve as a “special...

Legislation to allow Congress to repeal in a single vote any rule finalized in the last 60 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...

After a pompous, liberal agenda was crammed down the throats of the American people during his first two years in office, President Obama suffered staggering losses in Congress for the next six years that cost Democrats control of both houses. But, heavy Democrat losses, courtesy of an electorate that vehemently rejected a far-left agenda, didn't stop Obama from continuing to push through countless new rules and regulations from the White House all while pushing his authority to the brink of every Constitutional boundary known to man. Of course, the problem with "legislating from the White House" is that all those...

THE BIG STORY House Republicans unveiled their plan of attack against Obama-era regulations Wednesday, highlighting the top rules they plan to roll back. The Labor Department's blacklisting rule, Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) stream protection rule, Interior Department's methane emissions rule, a disclosure rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and an obscure gun regulation from the Social Security Administration (SSA) top the list of regulations Republicans are targeting. GOP lawmakers will turn to the Congressional Review Act to strike down these rules.

Todd Gaziano on Wednesday stepped into a meeting of free-market attorneys, think tankers and Republican congressional staff to unveil a big idea. By the time he stepped out, he had reset Washington’s regulatory battle lines.