Legislation to repeal a Biden administration rule adding costs to offshore drilling is on its way to President Trump’s desk as Republicans continue an aggressive pace of votes to roll back the regulatory state.
Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act to target regulations finalized late in the Biden administration, with this week alone featuring five votes between the House and Senate to repeal energy and financial-related regulations.
The House-passed measures would roll back rules adding certification requirements for household appliances and emission standards for tire manufacturing that Republicans say add costs to producers that are passed on to consumers.
And the Senate passed legislation to repeal a crypto-related IRS rule and a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulation on payment systems like Venmo and PayPal.
Four of the five CRA measures passed this week still require action from the other chamber.
The other, a measure to repeal a requirement that new oil and gas leaseholders on the outer continental shelf submit an archeological report before they can begin offshore drilling production, cleared the House on Thursday after passing the Senate last week.
“This is a major step towards unleashing American energy, lowering costs, and undoing the damage of the Biden-Harris administration,” said House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain of Michigan.
The House voted 221-202 to repeal the rule, with nine Democrats joining most Republicans in support. Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was the only Republican to vote “no,” while Iowa GOP Rep. Zach Nunn voted “present.”
It is the second CRA measure to head to Mr. Trump’s desk after one both chambers passed last week to scrap an Environmental Protection Agency regulation charging oil and gas producers a fee on methane emission leaks.
The House also voted 222-203 to cancel an Energy Department rule creating new certification, labeling and enforcement requirements for 20 products, including dishwashers, washing machines, central AC and heat pumps.
Seven Democrats joined all Republicans in voting to repeal the rule.
The third House vote was on rolling back an EPA rule setting emission standards for rubber tire manufacturing that Republicans claim are “onerous” and “excessive.”
The measure passed 216-202, with seven Democrats and all but one Republican in support. Mr. Fitzpatrick was the sole GOP “no” vote.
Five Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington — voted for all three CRA measures the House passed this week.
“From a harmful EPA rule standing in the way of the rubber tire manufacturing industry, to radical unnecessary energy efficiency standards, House Republicans are putting a stop to the Biden administration’s damaging regulations that hurt the American people,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican. “We will continue helping President Trump implement his energy agenda to ensure lower costs, create jobs and restore consumer choice.”
The Senate, meanwhile, focused on repealing financial regulations.
In a 51-47 mostly party-line vote, the Senate voted to scrap a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule placing payment applications with at least 50 million transactions a year, like Venmo and PayPal, under its supervisory authority.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was the only Republican to vote “no,” along with all Democrats.
Sen. Pete Ricketts, the Nebraska Republican who sponsored the legislation, said the CFBP rule is unnecessarily duplicative because the payment systems are already regulated by other entities at the state and federal level that look out for consumers.
“Consumers are generally very broadly pleased with these payment systems,” he said. “CFPB’s own data shows that only 1% of the 1.3 million complaints that they received last year were on these payment systems. So this is a regulation in search of a reason.”
The Senate also voted to repeal an IRS cryptocurrency rule that defined software developers of decentralized financial (DeFi) technology as “brokers,” even though they did not touch any of the cryptocurrency being exchanged.
That one drew support from many Democrats and passed 70-28.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican who sponsored the legislation, said the bipartisan vote to repeal the rule is “a victory for American innovation” after the Biden administration “attempted to undermine American privacy and impose burdensome regulations on digital currency.”
