On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved four bills that would tighten the federal rulemaking process. Democrats offered amendments to try and alter the bills but were unsuccessful.
The four bills that were passed by the Committee are as follows:
- “Responsibility and Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2015” (HR 348). Introduced by Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), this bill would speed up environmental reviews by establishing hard deadlines.
- “Searching for and Cutting Regulations That Are Unnecessary and Burdensome Act of 2015” (HR 1155). Introduced by Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), this bill would set up a commission to provide Congress with recommendations to eliminate certain regulations.
- “Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2015” (HR 690). Introduced by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), this bill would require every proposed rule to include a link on regulations.gov of a short summary of what the rule does.
- “Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015” (HR 712). Introduced by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), this bill would require federal agencies to share more information about consent decrees and settlements and could let outside affected parties intervene in settlement negotiations.
While these bills will likely pass the House, it will be a struggle to get enough Democratic votes in the Senate to send the bills to the President. President Obama would likely veto the bills if they were sent to him for his signature.