Since our last update (April 7), we have seen some important developments regarding Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions. In addition to the two resolutions signed into law on March 15 (easing protections that will mostly benefit the fossil fuel industry), one more resolution has become law.
On April 10, President Trump signed H.J.Res. 25, which targeted an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rule relating to the "Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales." This rule passed both the House and the Senate by wide margins (292-132 and 70-28, respectively), severely undermining the usefulness of the CRA as a way to overcome the filibuster.
Other developments
Four additional resolutions have cleared both chambers, meaning that we could soon see a dramatic increase in the number of CRA resolutions that become law. These are:
Additionally, four resolutions have cleared one chamber but have not been placed in the calendar yet. We continue to monitor their status, as we expect legislators to start picking these up for a second vote once they return from their recess next week.
So far, legislators have introduced 72 CRA resolutions targeting 46 unique rules from 23 different agencies. This represents an increase of 21.7 percent compared to the first Trump administration, where CRA resolutions targeted a total of 36 rules. This anti-regulatory push led by Congress operates in tandem with other actions by the executive branch that aim to deconstruct our regulatory system, which was built on decades of scientific research and public participation.
What can we do next? Building a People’s Regulatory Agenda
Despite the current push against federal regulations and agency expertise, there are steps we can take to safeguard our regulatory system. On May 1, the Center for Progressive Reform and the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards will host a webinar on Building a People’s Regulatory Agenda Through Rulemaking Petitions. The webinar will explore the strategic value of a coordinated public campaign to leverage the federal Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) rulemaking petition process to respond to the Trump administration’s attacks on our system of regulatory safeguards. Please RSVP or sign up to receive a recording of the webinar here. Our panelists include:
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Federico Holm | April 21, 2025
Since our last update (April 7), we have seen some important developments regarding Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions. In addition to the two resolutions signed into law on March 15 (easing protections that will mostly benefit the fossil fuel industry), one more resolution has become law.
Bryan Dunning | April 16, 2025
On April 8, the Trump administration issued the “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach” executive order (EO), another in a blitz of orders and declarations focused on the energy sector. As with the other energy-related EOs, it contains numerous references to advancing so-called “energy dominance” — which is largely and ideologically focused on fossil fuel industries — despite the United States already being “dominant” in this sector.
Sophie Loeb | April 15, 2025
In the midst of countless federal deregulatory actions, it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening to undermine states’ climate regulations and laws. Here in North Carolina, we are facing the cascading consequences of federal deregulation layered on top of threats to our state’s carbon plan law.
James Goodwin | April 10, 2025
During the night of April 9, President Donald Trump continued his administration’s radical assault on our nation’s critical system of regulatory safeguards with three new executive orders and a separate memorandum. These actions build on several previous ones that target regulatory safeguards, and they traffic in a lot of the same false rhetoric about the essential role our regulatory system plays in our society. But what makes these actions different is the manner in which they trample on administrative law and the procedural protections that it is meant to uphold.
Daniel Farber | April 9, 2025
On April 8, flanked by a few coal miners in hard hats, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders to restore their industry to its past glory. Given that coal is now the most expensive way to generate power other than nuclear, that’s going to be a heavy lift. Like many of Trump’s orders, these four are full of threats and bluster but will have little immediate effect.
Federico Holm | April 7, 2025
Since our last update (March 31), we have seen some movement regarding CRA resolutions. There have been no new resolutions signed into law (only two so far), but two more resolutions have cleared both chambers, so we can expect a signature from the president soon.
Federico Holm | April 1, 2025
On March 3, Randy Moore, the 20th chief of the U.S. Forest Service, stepped down after a lifelong career that started in 1981. A soil scientist and forester, Moore was also the first African American chief of the Forest Service. His resignation came on the heels of a widespread wave of mass firings of Forest Service personnel that amounted to approximately 10% of its workforce. In his farewell letter, Moore laid bare his frustration regarding the ongoing dismantling of the agency and the need for personnel to stick together and remain nimble, adding that for those in the Forest Service “feeling uncertainty, frustration, or loss, you are not alone.” Moore was replaced by Tom Schultz, a timber executive with deep ties to the logging industry. Schultz is also the first chief in Forest Service history who has not previously worked in the agency. In his introduction letter, Schultz highlighted his 25 years of land management, focusing on his timber and mineral extraction directive roles in Idaho.
Joseph Tomain, Sidney A. Shapiro | March 31, 2025
As the authors of a book that argues that a combination of government and markets has built a country truest to its fundamental political values, we see plans to radically downsize government as a contradiction of the historical evidence. As our book relates, the country has established a web of laws that interact with markets to build up our infrastructure, protect people, and help the most vulnerable among us.
Federico Holm | March 31, 2025
Since our last update (March 18), we have seen some small changes regarding CRA resolutions. There have been no new resolutions signed into law (only two so far), and there are now seven resolutions that have passed one chamber. This means that in addition to the six resolutions that had already cleared one chamber (you can see our previous update for a detailed description of those resolutions), there have been votes on four other resolutions.