Key Vote YES on H.J.Res. 36 and H.J.Res. 37 to Cancel Obama-Era Regulations

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote YES on resolutions of disapproval, H.J.Res. 36 and H.J.Res. 37, to cancel regulations submitted by the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Congress has the authority under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) of 1996 to effectively nullify regulations submitted for review by federal agencies within 60 legislative days.

Last week, the Senate passed two resolutions under the CRA to cancel regulations that had already passed the House, sending them to President Donald Trump for his signature. The White House, in a statement of administration policy, indicated that President Trump would sign the resolutions into law. He will become only the second president to cancel a regulation through the CRA.

In the same statement of administration policy supporting the resolutions already passed by the House and Senate, the White House indicated that President Trump would also sign H.J.Res. 36 and H.J.Res. 37 into, both of which passed the House last week, if presented for his signature. These resolutions will cancel costly regulations promulgated in the final days of the Obama administration.

  • H.J.Res. 36 – Bureau of Land Management’s Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule: With annual compliance costs between $114 million and $279 million, the so-called “venting and flaring” rule purports to reduce waste from “reduce the waste of natural gas from mineral leases administered” by the Bureau of Land Management. In reality, the purpose of the rule is to discourage oil and gas production on land overseen by the agency. The Bureau of Land Management estimates annual compliance costs between $114 million and $279 million.

  • H.J.Res. 37 – Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Federal Acquisition Regulation: This regulation requires federal contractors to disclose decisions on the reporting of violations of federal labor laws and creates paycheck transparency protections for employees of federal contractors. The rule is expected to cost employers $458.3 million in the first year, $413.7 million in the second year, and between $398.5 million and $400 million annually thereafter.

FreedomWorks will count the votes on these resolutions of disapproval when calculating our Scorecard for 2017 and reserves the right to score any related votes. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon, President and CEO, FreedomWorks