On June 12, 2025, President Trump signed three resolutions of disapproval in an effort to block California’s current air pollution emissions standards for cars and trucks. California and ten other states immediately filed suit in federal court, citing a number of statutory and constitutional claims in arguing that the resolutions were unlawful and asking a […]
On Wednesday, May 21, the U.S. Senate took a series of procedural votes that, depending on who you ask, either “cross[ed] a point of no return” in terms of the chamber’s filibuster or “preserv[ed] the Senate’s prerogatives.” How did we get to this point and what actually happened? Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), enacted […]
Things don’t move fast in Washington—until they do. Just hours after we published our piece explaining why EPA waivers of Clean Air Act preemption are subject to congressional review under the CRA, GAO published a memo of “observations” taking the opposite view. In addition, UC Berkeley Professors Dan Farber and Eric Biber have explained in […]
Congress will soon be deciding whether to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn several EPA waivers that allow California to regulate vehicle emissions. There have been two important developments since I initially posted an explainer on Legal Planet about this issue. First, two lawyers, Michael Buschbacher and Jimmy Conde, posted a lengthy piece […]
The Trump Administration has effectuated a number of controversial health policy changes by approving state “waiver” requests in Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The Biden Administration can seek to undo these waivers, but the process for doing so may be legally fraught, as states could seek to challenge any waiver revocation or amendment in […]
If current election results hold, it looks like Democrats will win the presidency, hold the House of Representatives, but lose the Senate (pending potential Georgia Senate runoff(s)). When the presidency most recently switched parties, congressional Republicans and President Trump extensively used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to dissaprove Obama administration rules. Although Democrats may not […]
Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (“the CRA”), Congress can adopt, with the President’s concurrence, a resolution disapproving an agency rule within 60 days of notification that the rule has been adopted. Section 801(b)(2) of the CRA provides that disapproval resolutions preclude the agency from adopting “a new rule that is substantially the same as” […]
The Congressional Review Act (“the CRA”)[1] establishes an expedited legislative process for preventing final agency rules from going into effect. It provides a sixty-day period for Congress to adopt and the President to sign a resolution disapproving an agency rule. 5 U.S.C. §802(a). If a disapproval resolution is adopted, the agency can neither “reissue [the […]
Last Wednesday, President Trump signed his fifteenth congressional resolution disapproving a federal regulation. This was notable not only because, prior to this year, only one such resolution had ever been enacted, but also because it was the first time a president had disapproved a regulation issued during his own tenure. This, along with new opinions […]
On Thursday, September 7, I’ll moderate a free teleconference for the ABA Admin Law Section. Register here. It should be an interesting discussion about a timely issue: the Congressional Review Act and stays of rules. Here is the info: Revisiting Yesterday’s Rules: The Congressional Review Act, Agency Stays, and Beyond Both Congress and federal agencies […]
Over the past two weeks, I have been asked more times than I can count how the Trump Administration can unravel the Obama Administration’s policies. My answer usually falls into one of three categories. First, policies that were instituted through guidance documents, such as executive memoranda and “Dear Colleague” letters, which I’ve called Government by Blog […]
I have written about the Congressional Review Act before, so I will not repeat myself. Long story short, Congress will have the opportunity to review regulations promulgated by agencies late in the term of President Obama. This potentially matters a great deal. (Here is a link to Frequently Asked Questions about the CRA.) How the […]
Earlier this year,* I moderated a teleforum for the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice’s Rulemaking Committee on the Congressional Review Act. You can access the recording for free here. The panel discusses the CRA from a number of different perspectives. After the events of this week, the CRA has become much more […]
In a prior post, I discussed concerns expressed by Senator Hatch regarding the IRS’s failure to subject its “major” regulations to the procedures required by the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Major regulations are generally those that have economic effects of $100 million or more and would seem to include many tax regulations. However, as […]
My co-blogger Andy Grewal asked in a post on Tuesday: “Why doesn’t the IRS comply with the Congressional Review Act?” My first thought on reading Andy’s post was: “Yeah, why doesn’t it?” My second thought was: “Maybe it does.” The Congressional Review Act, passed in 1996, allows the House and Senate to block certain federal […]