The first use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the process by which Congress can nullify certain executive branch regulations by a majority vote without the possibility of a filibuster, will come as early as today, as the Senate plans to vote to reverse the Trump administration’s rule allowing for wider release of methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The methane CRA resolution, which has bipartisan Senate support, is likely to pass, which is good news for the environment and emissions reduction. But the fates of five other CRA resolutions are far more uncertain.
Democrats have been fairly nonchalant about using the CRA tool at all, forsaking dozens of potential rollbacks of Trump-era rules in favor of winning down their considerations to just six. The statute’s timeline sets mid-May as the deadline for the passage of all CRA resolutions on former administration rules, leaving little time for Congress to act. One high-profile resolution gets a Senate hearing today, and this will go a long way to determining whether it will get time for a floor vote. Millions of consumer loan borrowers should take note, because whether they will have to pay regulated or outrageously high interest rates will hang in the balance.
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