Earlier today, shortly after meeting with representatives from the small business community, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) aimed at rolling back regulations.
While the actual text of the order has not yet been posted on the White House website, multiple sources are reporting that the EO requires each federal agencies to eliminate two regulations for every new regulation they promulgate.
A number of Senate committees are scheduled to vote on Cabinet nominees this week.
Monday evening, the Senate Finance Committee is slated to vote on the nomination of Steve Mnuchin to be the Secretary of the Treasury. The following day, the committee is also currently scheduled to vote on the nomination of Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to become the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Committees are expected to vote on the nominations for at least four other Cabinet secretaries on Tuesday. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled votes on Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to be the Secretary of the Interior and former Texas governor Rick Perry to be the Secretary of Energy for Tuesday. Also tomorrow, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is slated to vote on Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to formally vote on the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for the position of Attorney General.
The Environment and Public Works Committee is slated to vote on the nomination of Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma Attorney General who has been tapped to head the Environmental Protection Agency, on Wednesday. The nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to head the Office of Management and Budget will be headed to a vote before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday as well.
This morning President Trump tweeted that he plans to announce his pick to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court on Tuesday at 8 PM. Trump previously narrowed the field to three potential nominees, Judge William Pryor of Alabama, Judge Neil Gorsuch of Colorado and Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania.
The Senate must confirm the nomination, a vote that require 60 yay votes. This means Republicans will need eight Democrats to join them in supporting the nominee.
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.
Last night, a Brooklyn judge halted parts of an Executive Order on Immigration the White House issued Friday that bars immigrants and travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US.
Judge Ann Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York issued a stay on the Administration’s immigration Executive Order issued Friday saying that individuals with approved US visas from being returned to their country of origin.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to post and monitor on this issue as it evolves.