{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://fulcher.house.gov/2021/04/08/id-94195165-04d1-4235-bd0c-5fffa7773382/", "Congressman Fulcher Supports Reigning In Executive Agency Rulemaking", "2021-04-08", "2021", "2021-04", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Russ Fulcher", "F000469", "fulcher.house.gov", "fulcher", "https://fulcher.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Contact:\n\nAlexah Rogge\n\n202-225-6611\n\nalexah.rogge@mail.house.gov\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 As part of his \u201cdrain the swamp\u201d package, Congressman Fulcher has cosponsored the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2021, introduced by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL). This bill would reaffirm Congress\u2019 legislative authority to review and certify rules, and inhibit costly and troublesome overreach by the executive branch in the rulemaking process.\n\nWhile Congress holds the purse strings with appropriations, the executive branch under multiple administrations has drained lawmaking authority with little to no oversight. In 2016, Forbes reported that federal agencies, departments, and commissions issued 3,853 rules, while Congress and the President signed only 214 laws into effect \u2014 nearly 18 rules for every law. Since 1995, there had been 88,899 federal rules and regulations submitted, with an average rate of 27 rules per one law passed. Notably, hundreds of those rules are marked as \u201cmajor,\u201d \u201ceconomically significant,\u201d or \u201csignificant,\u201d categorizing them to expend at least $100 million in annual economic impact.\n\nThe REINS Act would require every new \u201cmajor rule\u201d suggested by federal agencies to be approved through a Joint Resolution by the House and Senate before being enacted. This legislation would also sustain Congress\u2019 ability to oppose a \u201cnon-major rule\u201d through the same process.\n\nA \u201cmajor rule\u201d, as defined by the REINS Act, is a federal rule or regulation that may create:\n\nan annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more\n\na major increase in costs or prices for consumers, industries, government agencies, or specific regions\n\ndetrimental effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the overall ability for the United States to compete with foreign-based enterprises.\n\n\u201cWhen I hear from Idahoans, it is often about the burdens of costly, time-consuming, and redundant regulations on their businesses, farms, ranches, and daily lives,\u201d said Congressman Fulcher. You\u2019d expect these weighty regulations would be required to be heard in front of Congress and voted on by those elected to represent \u2014 but that\u2019s not the case. Many of these regulations are determined by career bureaucrats at various agencies in Washington, D.C. with little to no oversight from the legislature. This is not how our Constitutional Republic was intended to operate, and it\u2019s important for us to check this unfettered expansion of the executive agencies.\u201d\n\nAuthor of the bill, Rep. Kat Cammack commented, \u201cThe REINS Act is a measure that ensures Congress is the only lawmaker in the United States. This bill reasserts Article I authority that vests all legislative power in Congress and provides necessary oversight of the executive rulemaking process.\u201d\n\nThe REINS Act currently includes half of the Republican Conference as original cosponsors. Read the full bill here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:42:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://fulcher.house.gov/2021/04/08/id-94195165-04d1-4235-bd0c-5fffa7773382/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7929042913019657, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}