Americans for Prosperity Leads Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Rein in the Administrative State in the Aftermath of Chevron
Letter co-signed by eighteen organizations calls on lawmakers to assume their constitutional rulemaking authorities by enacting a series of targeted reforms and preventing the outgoing administration from abusing its power before it leaves office.
Washington, D.C. – Today, Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s premiere grassroots organization that fights for prosperity through freedom and opportunity, sent a letter to congressional leaders encouraging action on several targeted reforms that would rein in the administrative state and remove regulatory red tape that stifles economic opportunity.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER
In June, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Loper Bright v. Raimondo overturned the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which granted agencies wide-ranging discretion to reinterpret the scope of their own authority, leading to unprecedented regulatory uncertainty and executive overreach.
Now, the incoming administration and Congress have begun work to dismantle the administrative state and its crippling regulatory barriers. President-elect Trump’s initiative to create a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has pledged to “reverse a decadeslong executive power grab.” On Capitol Hill, a newly created House DOGE subcommittee and Senate DOGE caucus are preparing to coordinate directly with this new department.
These efforts present an historic opportunity to reduce both the costs and regulatory burdens associated with the federal bureaucracy. Recognizing the significance of this moment, the letter from AFP and its eighteen partners offers lawmakers a policy roadmap “to build a strong foundation for Congress to meet the challenges of a post-Chevron landscape.”
“Decades of overregulation have led to less economic opportunity and made the American Dream harder to reach for millions of Americans,” said Brent Gardner, Chief Government Affairs Officer at Americans for Prosperity. “Congress can reverse this damage by curbing years of unchecked administrative state overreach and ensuring governance by elected officials, not unelected bureaucrats.”
In the letter, AFP and its partners call on Congress to take the following steps:
- Congress should reassert its Article I authority by delegating less authority to agencies in future legislation, making legislative text more explicit about what authority is (and is not) being delegated, and ensuring that its legislative intent is clear. Congress should pass laws that specify clear goals for agencies, clearly delineate agencies’ authority to achieve those goals—including where this authority ends—and detail the specific mechanisms the agency may use to achieve its congressionally defined mission.
- Congress should leverage the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to roll back Biden-Harris regulations – especially through the expected midnight rules process during lame duck – to prohibit agencies from implementing similar regulations in the future. Congress should also act to streamline this important legislative mechanism by passing the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2023 introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs and Sen. Ron Johnson. Currently Congress may disapprove of only a single regulation under a joint resolution, this bill would allow Congress to disapprove multiple regulations under a single joint resolution, preserving floor time while scaling direct congressional action to cut burdensome regulations.
- Continue to support the committee work House Majority Leader Steve Scalise initiated immediately following the June decision by supporting increased agency oversight and committee hearings (e.g., upcoming 12/18/24 HVAC hearing “Restoring Congressional Power over VA After Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.”). This oversight and the related hearings should focus on both egregious examples of agency overreach and also situations where the agency has failed to implement the stated will of Congress, as in the case of the Veterans Affairs hearing above.
- The Senate should pass the REINS Act, which gives Congress the final say on whether agencies’ proposed rules faithfully implement the laws they have passed, thereby preventing unelected bureaucrats from negatively impacting the economy and society.
- The Senate should pass the GOOD Act which requires agencies to publish regulatory guidance in a searchable, digital format so anyone can easily read the laws governing their lives and livelihoods. Increasing regulatory transparency and congressional oversight in this way prevents federal agencies from sidestepping the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and refusing to convince U.S. courts of their interpretation of the laws they issue.
- Additionally, efforts like the administrative state working group led by Sen. Eric Schmitt will be critical to facilitate the type of creative, forward thinking policy development required to keep Congress one-step ahead of bureaucrats’ future attempts to regain lost influence and thwart government by the People.
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