Since the November elections, there have been discussions about rolling back unpopular regulations issued by the Obama Administration in late 2016. One of the tools being discussed as a possible vehicle to pull back a number of regulations is the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which was adopted in 1996 as part of the Republican “Contract With America.”
In short, the law stipulates that Congress has 60 legislative days (days in which Congress is in session) to review final regulations from agencies and, if desired, pass joint resolutions of disapproval. If a joint resolution disapproving a regulation is adopted by both the House and Senate, the President has the option to either sign or veto it. If it is vetoed, Congress can seek to overturn the veto. A provision in the CRA also states that once a regulation is disapproved by Congress via the CRA, the federal government cannot promulgate essentially similar regulations in the future without Congress adopting a law supporting a new regulation on the same issue. Essentially, Congress has to approve every subsequent regulatory change to the issue in question going forward. Since its adoption in 1996, the CRA has been successfully used to turn back a regulation only once—in 2001 to repeal a regulation related to workplace ergonomic requirements.
A number of Obama Administration regulations have been suggested as possible items to rollback using the CRA, including the set of regulations related to overtime pay for salaried employees, including those at colleges and universities. Many also believe that many environmental regulations from the Obama Administration could also be subject to the CRA.
Congress is set to begin regulatory rollback through the CRA starting this Wednesday, with the House slated to take up a number of joint resolutions disapproving regulations related to, among other issues, the environment as well as the application of labor laws to federal contractors.