GOP lawmaker brings back bill to quash last-minute Obama regs

A House Republican opened the start of the new Congress by reviving legislation that would allow Congress to repeal in a single vote any rule finalized in the past 60 legislative days.

The Midnight Rules Relief Act, reintroduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Tuesday, would amend the Congressional Review Act to allow lawmakers to bundle together multiple rules and overturn them en masse with a joint resolution of disapproval. 

The House passed the bill by a vote of 240-179 in November. Similar legislation was introduced later that month in the Senate but never made it out of committee.

{mosads}The White House has threatened to veto the legislation if it were to make it to President Obama’s desk, but the GOP-backed measure appears to have a clear path forward once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The House is expected to approve the proposal later this week.

Though the bill’s title signals the effort to target rules finalized in the lame-duck period, Democratic opponents claim the legislation will allow Congress to repeal rules finalized as far back as May.

Issa argues that regulations released in the waning days of an outgoing administration are rushed.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that unaccountable, last-minute regulations don’t continue crippling our economy, crushing small business and raising costs on middle-class families,” he said in a statement.