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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:

• S.J.Res.18, which targets a rule submitted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau relating to “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions,” passed the Senate by a 52-48 vote (Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) opposed the resolution). In an earlier post, we had ventured that Hawley’s opposition could be a sign that Republicans did not have the votes in the House, but with only one Republican legislator voting against, the resolution ended up passing the House by a 217-211 vote.
• S.J.Res.28, which targets a rule submitted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau relating to Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications,” passed the Senate by a 51-47 vote and the House by a 219-211 vote.
• H.J.Res.20, which targets a rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to “Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters,” passed the House by a 221-198 vote and the Senate by a 53-44 vote.
• H.J.Res.24, which targets a rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to “Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers,” passed the House by a 203-182 vote and the Senate by a 53-42 vote.

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:

• Sharon Block, Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar and Board Member; Professor of Practice and Executive Director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Harvard Law School; and former Acting Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs during the Biden administration
• Sid Shapiro, Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar and Board Chair, and Fletcher Chair in Administrative Law, Wake Forest University School of Law
• Daniel Walters, Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar and Associate Professor of Law, Texas A&M University School of Law
• James Goodwin, Policy Director, Center for Progressive Reform (Moderator)