FIRST ON FOX: Senate Republicans are touting their accomplishments rejecting Biden administration regulations via congressional resolutions that have received support from Democrats.
Since January, the Senate has approved seven such resolutions which utilize the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a law dating back nearly three decades that allows Congress to revoke federal regulations. All seven of the CRAs revoked energy- or environment-related regulations with the majority being within the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee’s jurisdiction.
“When we began this Congress, one of my top priorities was to hold the Biden administration accountable for any overreach on environment and energy issues within our jurisdiction here at the EPW Committee,” EPW Committee Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“We’re building on this successful track record and proving our bipartisan oversight efforts are well-founded, even in a divided Congress,” she continued. “We’ll continue to use the tools at our disposal to lead the way in protecting American families, workers, and employers from the harmful, seemingly endless, regulations of the Biden administration.”
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Overall, five of the CRAs that have passed this year came from within the committee’s jurisdiction.
The most recent resolutions — which revoke a rule listing the Northern Long-Eared Bat as “endangered” and another expanding the definition of a “critical habitat” — received approval on Thursday. Both regulations were criticized by Republicans for being examples of federal overreach, hurting landowners and stifling development.
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“By scrapping the definition of habitat within the ESA, the Biden administration is causing chaos and confusion among private property owners throughout Wyoming and the west,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., in March after introducing the CRA revoking the “critical habitat” rule.
“Two-thirds of all endangered species are located on private lands, so private property owners need to be partners in species recovery, not the enemy.”
The other three CRAs from within EPW Committee’s jurisdiction that have received congressional approval revoked rules clamping down on water protections, regulating heavy-duty vehicle tailpipe emissions and listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken as “endangered.”
In addition, Capito has vowed to introduce another CRA that would block the administration’s power plant emissions regulations unveiled Thursday.
“At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to fill up their tanks and pay their utility bills under President Biden, it’s reprehensible that this administration would clamp down even further on domestic energy production while advancing policies meant to increase demand for electricity,” she said after the proposal was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Beyond the five CRAs originating from within Capito’s committee, the Senate has approved a resolution blocking the Department of Labor’s rules encouraging financial institutions and asset managers to factor environmental standards, and another revoking Biden’s action to allow Chinese solar panel makers to avoid tariffs for 24 months.
Still, despite the bipartisan support the CRAs received — the solar resolution passed the Senate in a 56-41 vote, the largest margin of any CRA — Biden has vetoed or vowed to veto all the bills.
