Congressional leaders praise executive order on regulations

An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday to reduce regulations and contain regulatory costs was lauded by U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS).

The president’s executive order requires agencies proposing new regulations to identify at least two existing regulations to repeal, and it directs agency heads to keep the total incremental cost of new regulations at no greater than zero dollars in fiscal year 2017.

“In these times of great political division in our country, reducing the regulatory burden on families and employers is something that brings most Americans together,” Curbelo said.

Curbelo said he supported the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act that would require a direct vote on major regulations. He also will work to review and repeal “harmful, job-killing regulations” in the months ahead.

“The White House’s action (on Monday) commits the administration to a pro-growth approach to governing that will expand opportunities for American families and businesses,” Curbelo said.

House Majority Leader McCarthy said agencies continually increase the regulatory burden on the country without considering the tens of thousands of pages of rules that already exist.

“The way these rules are made undermine our Constitution, and the rules themselves obstruct innovation and economic growth while harming individual American citizens,” McCarthy said. “President Trump’s latest action brings much-needed prudence to our regulatory regime following an eight-year rulemaking deluge that added nearly 18,000 pages to the Federal Register. The House has focused on rolling back the bureaucracy from day one of the new Congress.”

Roberts previously introduced the Regulatory Responsibility for Our Economy (RREA) Act, S. 69, to require federal agencies to review significant regulations and propose a timeline to repeal those found to be burdensome, unnecessary or harmful to the economy.

“I am glad President Trump will roll back the Obama administration’s burdensome regulations that have slowed our economic growth,” Roberts said. “I have taken it one step further and have introduced a bill to prevent future regulatory abuse to put these protections into law.”