Congressional Republicans are coming to the 60-day deadline Thursday in their rush to roll back Biden administration environmental regulations, but they might be resetting the clock in some cases. The 1996 Congressional Review Act typically gives lawmakers 60 days to enact joint resolutions of disapproval nullifying rules. The law allows the Senate to pass the joint resolutions with simple majorities, avoiding the risk of filibuster. But the clock starts again in a new session of Congress, as it did on Jan. 24 for the 119th Congress, according to the Senate staff, giving lawmakers 60 legislative days to act. That look-back period allows the current Congress to reverse rules going back as far as Aug. 16, 2024. Thursday marks the end of the 60-day look-back period. Republican majorities in the two chambers have used the CRA to chip away at environmental regulations, nullifying refrigerator efficiency standards, the designation of long-fin smelt in the San Francisco Bay Delta as an endangered species, emissions standards for rubber processing in tire manufacturing, and more. Both chambers have passed nine joint resolutions, six of them on environmental issues. Trump has signed three, including two on the environment. This Congress, however, may have another chance to reset the CRA clock. The Republican majorities are eyeing for reversal EPA waivers issued to California allowing the state to maintain vehicle emissions standards more stringent than the federal government’s. Congress has never overturned a waiver under the CRA. The Government Accountability Office says they aren’t rules for the purpose of the CRA. The Senate parliamentarian has deferred to the GAO. Agencies don’t typically send them to Congress because they aren’t considered rules. Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, said the GAO doesn’t have any explicit authority to determine what qualifies, but Congress has nevertheless relied on it. “The CRA is silent on what to do if an agency does not submit a rule directly to Congress. Over time, Congress has developed a workaround where a member or committee can ask GAO for an opinion and the parliamentarian has deferred to GAO,” said Reynolds. The 60-day clock would then start when the lawmaker seeking the GAO opinion has it published in the Congressional Record. “Counting days can be quite confusing when it comes to the CRA,” said Reynolds. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin found a new workaround that may not require a GAO opinion. Zeldin, who opposes the waivers, sent them to Congress and encouraged it to nullify them using the CRA. The House passed three measures last week that would reverse the waivers. The Senate hasn’t acted, but a majority aide on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said Republicans are counting the days from Feb. 24, 2025, the day it received the rules. The aide said Wednesday is the 40th day. Democrats aren’t uniformly in opposition as the Republicans nullify Biden administration rules. Thirty-five Democrats, including Reps. Lou Correa and George Whitesides from California, joined the House GOP to nullify an EPA waiver allowing California effectively to ban sales of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Democrats also gave some support to nullification of the two other waivers. This report was corrected to reflect that lawmakers decide whether to enter GAO opinions into the Congressional Record.
