The House took an opening shot at government overregulation on Wednesday by passing a bill that would reform the regulatory process and restore judicial branch authority to interpret ambiguous statutes.
It passed easily in a 238-183 vote, and five Democrats crossed the aisle to support it with Republicans.
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The legislation combines six regulatory reform measures that the GOP majority passed in the House last year, but which never became law.
This year, Republicans aim to get the combined measure signed into law by incoming President Trump, although it must first overcome the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
The bill would require agencies to give considerable weight to the cost of regulations and would require them to adopt those that are the least costly.
Republicans have for years railed against the aggressive pace and scope of regulatory moves by the Obama administration, particularly at the EPA, and the GOP made reform a top campaign pledge. The GOP said government regulations come with an annual price tag of nearly $1.9 billion and are often churned out by unaccountable bureaucrats and high-level federal employees who do the bidding of consulting firms and lobbyists.
“This breeds thousands of regulations that further enrich the connected and powerful, sometimes at the great expense of the average American,” said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
The legislation would also restore judicial branch jurisdiction when it comes to interpreting vague statutes, which has in recent years been left up to to agencies who are then unaccountable.
Republicans passed several amendments to the bill, including one sponsored by Rep. Colin Peterson, D-Minn., that would prohibit federal agencies from using tax money to advocate for a rule or to generate pubic comments on behalf of rule.
“These reforms have one ultimate goal,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. “To ensure a fair rule making process and keep unnecessary costs to a minimum.”
Democrats have long opposed GOP efforts to cut regulations and mostly voted against the bill. They argued it would hamper federal agencies from providing the critical regulations needed to keep Americans safe from pollution and other health threats.
Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment that would have exempting rules relating to food safety issues.
The legislation, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said “is nothing more than Republicans seeking to micromanage the regulatory process to death.”
“They want to wrap federal agencies in so much red tape that they won’t be able to protect our health, our safety or our natural resources,” he said.
