Support the REINS Act to Return Lawmaking Power to Congress

As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and senators today and urge them to support the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.” Sponsored in the Senate by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and in the House by Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.),

As our Founding Fathers understood, it is dangerous for any branch of government to have unchecked power. In Federal 51, James Madison acknowledged that checks and balances are “necessary to control the abuses of government.” In Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, the process of creating a new law is outlined and clearly given to the legislative branch alone. Today, unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch repeatedly disregard these limits by enacting new rules without the approval of Congress.

Every year, executive agencies issue thousands of new rules and regulations, often based upon little more than loose guidelines provided by Congress. Those rules that impose at least $100 million of annual compliance cost are considered “major rules.” In 2014 alone, federal agencies issued 200 major rules. The REINS would respect the checks and balances carefully established in the Constitution by requiring Congress to approve such rules. Agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would no longer be allowed to pass economically devastating regulations without being put to a congressional vote.

Congress has spent decades ceding its power to agencies which are largely unaccountable to the voting public. Thus, I urge you to contact your Members of Congress today and urge them to support S. 226 and H.R. 427, the “REINS Act”, as a step in returning lawmaking authority to elected lawmakers – and, through them, to their constituents.
Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO,
FreedomWorks