Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 277, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2023. This legislation would require congressional approval of any major rule or regulation that has an economic impact of $100 million or more annually.
“The Biden Administration has forgotten where legislative authority lies as directed by the Constitution,” said Cole. “While forcing their progressive vision onto the nation, executive departments and agencies have largely seized the role of legislating. In fact, the Biden Administration’s record pace of new rules and regulations has imposed $1 trillion in new incurring costs, which has been burdensome on American families and small businesses and delayed our economy from fully recovering. The American people who foot the bill while complying with these excessive regulatory burdens deserve congressional debate and consideration – not an unnamed bureaucrat in an agency office unilaterally passing on unfunded mandates. For this reason, I was proud to support the House passage of the REINS Act to return the lawmaking power to Congress.”
Last week, Cole made extensive remarks on the legislation in a Rules Committee meeting. Video here and transcript here.
