Republican Senator of Missouri, Eric Schmitt, proposed new legislation yesterday (May 3rd, 2023) intending to restrict the power of the federal government’s administrative state and the burdensome rules it can impose.
Schmitt claims that the Expediting Reform and Stopping Excess Regulations Act, or ERASER Act, his first piece of legislation as a senator, offers the structure to ensure that government bureaucrats carefully consider proposed rules and regulations.
He argues that the bill expands on a directive issued by Trump’s administration in 2017 that mandated eliminating two regulations for every new one published.
Schmitt said in a statement to the media that Joe Biden exemplifies the problem of imposing unnecessary burdens on law-abiding citizens of the United States. He is pleased to take the lead in challenging the authority of the administrative state.
He went on to say that the administrative state comprises thousands of unelected bureaucrats working for alphabet agencies and holding tremendous sway over the daily lives of Missourians and Americans.
The bill, if passed, would go further than Trump’s executive order and make it illegal for agencies to issue new essential laws without first repealing three or more laws. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs must certify that the cost of a new rule will be less than or equal to the amount of repealing the rules before the agency can implement the new law.
The measure defines ‘major laws,’ such as those with an estimated cost of $100 million or more that will significantly affect competition, employment, investment, or innovation among U.S. enterprises.
As of the bill’s effective date, the neutral Government Accountability Office will be tasked with reviewing all enacted regulations.
Schmitt argues that small businesses saved $733 million due to Trump’s executive order, and he points out that President Biden’s first act in office was to reverse that order.
Conservatives have long wanted to eliminate federal agency overregulation because they see it as threatening blue-collar industries.
In the House, Republican Florida representative Kat Cammack introduced the REINS Act in January to reduce what she dubbed the silent killer of the American dream in government regulations.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said last month that he would lead a legal group to fight the bureaucratic overreach and heavy regulation of the Biden administration, which is, in his opinion, destroying American firms.
The legislation proposed by Schmitt is the most recent attempt by Republicans to rein in what they see as an overly expansive federal government.
Republicans Mike Braun of Indiana, Katie Britt of Alabama, Rick Scott of Florida, and Josh Hawley of Missouri are all on board as co-sponsors of the ERASER Act.