On the Ballot16 Jan 2025

The Congressional Review Act's big role in enacting Trump’s agenda

On this episode: When the Congressional Review Act was signed into law in 1996 by Bill Clinton, it gave Congress a way to hit pause on federal agency rules they believe have gone too far or otherwise aren’t achieving the desired effect.

Here’s how it works: Congress gets a window of time to review any new rule, where both chambers have a chance to pass what’s called a ‘joint resolution of disapproval.’ Then—if the president signs off—that rule is overturned. And maybe the most interesting part of the process is that the agency whose rule has been overturned can’t issue a similar rule again in the future.

The tool’s only been used to repeal 20 rules in its nearly 30 year history, most of which in the last few years — and most heavily by Donald Trump during his first term. The incoming administration sees it as a key to advancing their agenda and rolling back regulations, so we figured now would be a great time to talk a little more about its history, original intention, and the big role it might play over the next few months.

Check out our CRA page for an overview: https://ballotpedia.org/Congressional_Review_Act Explore Biden’s use of the CRA: https://ballotpedia.org/Uses_of_the_Congressional_Review_Act_during_the_Biden_administration How Trump used it his 1st term: https://ballotpedia.org/Uses_of_the_Congressional_Review_Act_during_the_Trump_administration Federal changes following the CRA in ‘96: https://ballotpedia.org/Federal_agency_rules_repealed_under_the_Congressional_Review_Act
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*On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

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