Press Releases

WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Representative Jason Smith (Mo.) helped pass legislation to fight back against President Joe Biden and his administration’s costly and burdensome executive overreach. The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2023, which Smith coauthored, would require every new "major rule" proposed by federal agencies to be approved by both the House and Senate before going into effect. The other bill, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA), would help stop the abuse of power by unelected federal bureaucrats.

“President Joe Biden’s executive overreach is creating more pain for hardworking Americans who are already struggling to make ends meet amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades,” said Smith. “In his first year in office, Biden added $200 billion in new regulatory costs – an amount four times higher even when compared to President Barack Obama’s first year in the White House. The legislation we passed this week marks another important step to holding Biden and his administration accountable for side-stepping Congress to enact the Left’s radical and costly agenda. I will continue fighting to give the American people the tools needed to hold the Biden administration accountable for abusing its power to expand government command and control over the lives of hardworking Americans.”

The REINS Act and SOPRA are the latest examples of how House Republicans are fighting to hold the Biden administration accountable for bypassing Congress to advance Washington Democrats’ radical, costly agenda. Under the administrative pay-go provision in the recently enacted Fiscal Responsibility Act, Biden cannot issue executive actions that cost over $100 million unless he can find dollar-for-dollar savings in other government programs. In the first two and a half years alone, Biden’s executive actions have totaled over $1.5 trillion in spending.

Background on the REINS Act:

The REINS Act would define a "major rule" as any federal rule or regulation that may result in: an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government industries and agencies, or geographic regions; or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with those in foreign countries.

Background on SOPRA:

In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council that courts must defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statues rather than how Congress wrote them. This has led to executive branch agencies circumventing Congress to issue rules with the force of law. The bill would repeal that precedent, restore congressional intent, and stop executive overreach.