House Passes Legislation to Curb 'Midnight Regulations'

A bill to curb all regulations issued in the final months of a president's term, often called midnight regulations, passed the House November 17 by a vote of 240-179, after all amendments offered by Democrats were defeated.The Midnight Rules Relief Act (HR 5982) was sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. It would amend the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to allow Congress to disapprove multiple regulations en bloc that had been issued in the last 60 legislative days of the final year of a president's term.Given the number of legislative days in the current Congress, all regulations finalized since May would be subject to disapproval."On Election Day, the American people delivered a resounding message to Washington: Do not continue the Obama administration's policies; stop the regulatory, big-government onslaught that has been killing our jobs, strangling recovery and suffocating our futures," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. "Passage of this bill is the way to say immediately we have heard you loud and clear."The White House already said President Barack Obama would veto the bill if it were presented to him. Further, with few days remaining in the legislative session, the bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate.