Allow Bundled Disapproval of Midnight Rules

Summary#

This bill changes how Congress can use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn multiple regulatory rules issued late in a President’s term. It lets Congress put more than one “midnight rule” into a single joint resolution of disapproval (an action that would cancel an agency rule). The bill also supplies a model text for a resolving clause that lists multiple rules and states they “shall have no force or effect.”

• Main change: Allows a single joint resolution to disapprove multiple rules that were reported to Congress during the final year of a President’s term.
• Model language: Adds a specific example of how the resolving clause should look when listing several rules.
• Scope: The change applies only to rules whose agency reports were submitted in the President’s final year.
• Target: Designed to affect so-called “midnight rules” — rules finalized and reported late in an outgoing President’s term.
• Goal: Make it easier and faster for Congress to act on several late-term rules at once.

What it means for you#

• Federal agencies

  • Agencies that finalize rules in the last year of a President’s term may face greater risk that several of those rules can be rolled back together by one congressional vote.
  • Agencies may need to consider that multiple late rules could be bundled for disapproval.

• Businesses and regulated people

  • If your industry is affected by agency rules finalized in a President’s final year, those rules could be overturned faster and in groups. That may increase uncertainty about which rules will stay in effect.
  • The bill could shorten the time that late-term regulatory changes remain in force before Congress can remove them.

• Members of Congress

  • Lawmakers could vote on one joint resolution that cancels several rules, rather than separate resolutions for each rule. That could save floor time and simplify the process.

• Incoming administration and the public

  • An incoming President or new agency leaders might see a quicker congressional review and possible repeal of many late-term rules at once.

• What is unclear:

  • The bill does not state limits on how many rules can be bundled or whether bundled rules must be related in subject matter.
  • It does not change other CRA timing or procedural rules beyond allowing multiple rules in one resolution.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

• The bill text does not include a fiscal note or estimate of costs.
• Possible effects on congressional staff time (less time drafting or voting on many separate resolutions) and agency staff (monitoring and responding to bundled disapproval) are not quantified.
• Any legal or court costs that might follow from increased use of joint resolutions are not estimated.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to let Congress respond more efficiently to multiple late-term rules.
• Supporters may argue this would reduce the time and paperwork needed to disapprove several related “midnight rules.”
• It could be seen as strengthening congressional oversight of last-minute regulatory actions by making bundled disapproval formally permissible.
• A single resolution listing several rules could simplify the voting process and legislative drafting.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is that bundling many rules into a single vote could prevent Congress from debating and weighing each rule on its own merits.
• The bill does not say whether unrelated rules can be grouped, which may allow broad rollbacks without detailed consideration of individual impacts.
• This change could increase regulatory uncertainty for businesses and the public when many late rules could be removed together.
• It is unclear whether this will lead to more partisan use of the CRA late in a President’s term or increase litigation over whether bundled disapproval was appropriate.