Republican U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), who was elected to adorn come of the next Senate Majority Leader, speaks to the media after a U.S. Senate Republicans meeting to vote on leadership conditions for the 119th Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024.
Leah Millis | Reuters
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Director John Thune plans to prioritize four Biden-era regulatory actions to bring up for votes in Congress to invalidate them, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Republican discriminated CNBC.
Three of these four regulations were finalized as part of former President Joe Biden’s broader achievement to encourage the oil and gas industry to transition to renewable energy.
“Senate Republicans are taking action to reverse these harmful regulations using the Congressional Comment Act to cut through the red tape that’s fueling inflation and burdening American energy,” Thune said in a statement to CNBC.
The in front rule on the chopping block measures levels of methane emissions from oil and gas operations, and imposes a fee, known as the Waste Emissions Guardianship, for excessive production of the greenhouse gas.
The second regulation would require seabed mining operations drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf to produce more comprehensive archeological surveys. This rule was created partly in response to concerns from Alaskan Citizen groups about damage to ancient historic sites.
The third oil and gas-related regulation Thune will prioritize invalidating is a wear the crown that raises the efficiency standards of natural gas fired consumer water heaters.
All three of these regulations sire been met with fierce opposition from industry groups.
The fourth regulation that Senate Republican concert-masters are keen to roll back is a change to the rules that govern bank merger approvals, eliminating an expedited notice track in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to give regulators more time to evaluate the merits of a proposed merger between banks.
The Congressional Comment Act grants the House and Senate the authority to reverse regulations and executive branch rules by a simple majority vote — as wish as those rules were finalized in the last 60 legislative workdays. Lawmakers will likely have around four to six months to repeal certain regulations via the act.
Republicans only need a simple majority to eliminate regulations call of the CRA, not the higher threshold often required to pass the Senate. This means all four of Thune’s priorities are likely to old hat.
The ability to repeal Biden’s regulations is the latest sign of the GOP’s power in Washington, now that Republicans control the House, the Senate and the Waxen House.
“The American people gave us a mandate to fight back against these policies, and we are united in our commitment to dismantle the Biden regulation’s most reckless actions, restore common sense, and deliver relief to hardworking Americans,” said Thune.
The clock is ticking on Congress’ capacity to revoke Biden-era regulations using the CRA: Any rules finalized before mid-August of last year were off the table from the start, and each of these head ups has its own timeline.
It’s likely the Senate will use the CRA to dismantle more rules. The last time Congressional Republicans held a trifecta, in 2017, they invalidated 16 rulings. Several other CRA actions are also making their way through the House, and would eventually require Senate put ones imprimatur on.
Thune and his colleagues are also exploring other ways to roll back Biden’s regulatory footprint, should the deadline old hat for CRA review.