Since our last update on May 19, we have seen some critical developments regarding Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions. In addition to the relentless progression of some resolutions towards becoming law, the most troublesome was the decision in the Senate to vote on the CRA resolutions ending Clean Air Act waivers issued to California. As James Goodwin said in a recent blog post on the matter, this represents a clear example of Senate Republicans “failing to follow the rules that they agreed to — and doing so to advance their policy agenda without heed to the rule of law wreckage they leave in their wake.” James’s post presents important facts regarding the consequences of this decision for the filibuster in the Senate as well as the potential repercussions in the wider context of an authoritarian executive. I urge everyone to read the full text, which is available here.
Besides this critical development, what does the overall CRA landscape look like?
There are good chances that this Congress will match or even surpass the number of CRA resolutions signed into law by President Trump during his first term. In 2017, Trump signed atotal of 16 resolutions of disapproval into law.
In this Congress, there are 16 resolutions that are very close to becoming or have become law already. Additionally, we have identified eight CRA resolutions already signed into law, with the majority of them targeting environmental and climate rules. These are:
S.J.Res.11, targeting therule submitted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management relating to “Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources.”
H.J.Res.35, targeting therule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems: Procedures for Facilitating Compliance, Including Netting and Exemptions.”
H.J.Res.75, targeting therule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to “Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Refrigerators, Freezers, and Refrigerator-Freezers.”
H.J.Res.20, targeting therule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to “Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters.”
H.J.Res.24, targeting therule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to “Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers.”
H.J.Res.42, targeting therule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to “Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment.”
H.J.Res.25, targeting therule submitted by the Internal Revenue Service relating to “Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales.”
S.J.Res.18, targeting therule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions.”
Another eight resolutions are sufficiently advanced in the pipeline that we expect to be signed into law in the coming weeks.
Two of these have already been sent to the President and are waiting for his signature:
H.J.Res.60, targeting therule submitted by the National Park Service relating to “Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Motor Vehicles.”
H.J.Res.61, targeting therule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Rubber Tire Manufacturing.”
Finally, six more have passed both chambers and are waiting to be sent to the President, which would be the final step before being signed into law. The Clean Air Act waivers issued to California are among this group:
S.J.Res.31, targeting therule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act.”
H.J.Res.88, targeting therule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Advanced Clean Cars II; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision.”
H.J.Res.87, targeting therule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Emission Warranty and Maintenance Provisions; Advanced Clean Trucks; Zero Emission Airport Shuttle; Zero-Emission Power Train Certification; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision.”
H.J.Res.89, targeting therule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Motor Vehicle and Engine and Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; The ‘Omnibus’ Low NOX Regulation; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision.”
S.J.Res.28, targeting therule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications.”
S.J.Res.13, targeting therule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the Department of the Treasury relating to the review of applications under the Bank Merger Act.
Additionally, three more resolutions have a fair chance of making it through the CRA pipeline, as they have already advanced through the Senate, which, compared to the House, presents the most formidable obstacle to passing CRA resolutions. If these were to become law, this would increase the number of resolutions signed into law to 19, three more than in the previous Trump administration. These are:
S.J.Res.55, targeting therule submitted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration relating to “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Fuel System Integrity of Hydrogen Vehicles; Compressed Hydrogen Storage System Integrity; Incorporation by Reference.”
S.J.Res.7, targeting therule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to “Addressing the Homework Gap Through the E-Rate Program.”
S.J.Res.3, targeting therule submitted by the Internal Revenue Service relating to “Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales.”
We continue to monitor additional developments regarding CRA actions. Although the moves to vote on the Clean Air Act waivers issued to California overshadowed other developments, the story regarding CRA resolutions in this Congress continues to unfold, and will likely do so for a few more weeks.
