Congressional Review Act in the 118th Congress

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows Congress by a simple majority vote in both chambers — with limited debate and no possibility of a filibuster — to overturn recently issued regulations, so long as the president does not veto the resolution of disapproval. The CRA’s expedited process applies only for a short time after a final regulation has been issued and published in the Federal Register.

If a resolution of disapproval becomes law, the targeted rule is void and can have no effect. In addition, the agency is prohibited from issuing another regulation that is “substantially the same,” unless Congress authorizes the agency to do so through subsequent legislation. Because the courts have never determined how different a new regulation must be so that is not “substantially the same,” the scope of this prohibition remains unclear and untested.

The table below lists rules that have been targeted for repeal.

Agencies engage in numerous actions, and under the CRA they are required to submit to Congress only those actions that are considered rules. If an agency does not consider its action a rule, it does not need to be submitted to Congress. However, if a member of Congress wants an agency action to be considered a rule under the CRA, a lawmaker can ask the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine whether the action should be considered a rule. While the response times vary widely, it takes the GAO on average 207 days to determine CRA eligibility, or nearly seven months. See this report for more details: GAO Rule Determinations for CRA Consideration.