Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is calling on the Obama administration to stay the use of certain controversial regulations, including the overtime rule from the Labor Department.
"Given the substantial likelihood that this burdensome regulation will be undone, I urge the Labor Department to cease implementation of the regulation immediately to spare small businesses and industry the unnecessary and avoidable compliance costs that they currently face," Johnson wrote in a letter to Labor Secretary Tom Perez, The Hill reports.
Johnson also wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration arguing that the departments ought not enforce rules that incoming president Donald Trump will overturn. Specifically the EPA’s clean power plan and U.S. waters standard, and the FDA’s rules on electronic cigarettes.
Regulators ought to "acknowledge the reality of the situation," said Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "On Nov. 8, the American people voiced their disapproval of a federal government run by regulation and executive fiat"
"The incoming administration and the 115th Congress will likely re-examine and unwind burdensome regulations imposed by the Obama administration," he added.
The Congressional Review Act gives legislators the ability to overturn regulations with a majority vote in both chambers. With Republicans controlling the House and the Senate, it’s likely that they will use this ability to remove many of the regulations added by the Obama administration. However, there are limits. Only regulations adopted in the past 60 working days on the congressional session can be repealed, and once a regulation is removed it cannot be revisited by the new administration.
"The House and Senate are going to be really busy next spring, so to the extent they want to work repealing past regulations is up to them," Sam Batkins, of conservative think tank American Action Forum, told NPR.
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