By: Dania Douglas
Executive Summary
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) was enacted in 1996 in an effort to give Congress more oversight of agency rulemaking. The CRA requires executive branch agencies to report their rulemaking activities to Congress and creates a process for Congress to overturn these federal rules. Until 2017, the CRA had been used only once to strike down a federal regulation. Following the 2016 elections, however, a Republican controlled Congress, under the Trump Administration, used the CRA to invalidate dozens of federal rules enacted under the Obama Administration. Following the 2020 elections, the Biden-Harris Administration signed three CRA resolutions passed by the Democrat controlled Congress. As the 2024 elections approach, it is important to consider how this tool might be used by future Congresses and Administrations to address regulations.
