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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of June 5, 2023

Washington, June 4, 2023
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor this week:
 
Protecting Your Freedom to Have a Gas Stove

The Biden Administration wants to exercise even more control over the daily lives of hardworking Americans by telling us what kind of stoves we can have in our homes. 

In January, Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr., with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) proposed a ban on gas stoves, calling them a “hidden hazard” and saying “any option is on the table.”


Gas stoves are, on average, 10 to 30 percent less expensive than electric stoves, making them a more affordable alternative as American families suffer under Biden’s inflation. Banning them would cost struggling families the most. Additionally, it would seriously impact small independent restaurants, driving up costs and potentially putting them out of business. 

Rep. Kelly Armstrong’s legislation, H.R. 1615, the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, blocks the CPSC from issuing a radical rule to ban gas stoves and bars the use of federal funds to regulate gas stoves as a banned hazardous product.


But the CPSC isn’t the only agency going after gas stoves – Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) has joined the crusade, as well. 

In February, the DOE revealed that the proposed conservation rules would remove at least half of U.S. stove models from stores.


H.R. 1640, the Save Our Gas Stoves Act, introduced by Rep. Debbie Lesko, prohibits the Department of Energy from imposing their proposed rule to ban gas stoves by amending the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and clarifying that the DOE cannot issue standards that effectively ban a product based on the fuel it uses.


Americans should be the ones deciding what they use in their kitchen, not out-of-touch government bureaucrats. House Republicans will always defend your freedoms and fight to keep big government out of your home.


Reining In the Administrative State

Federal agencies continue to expand their authority by assuming the powers of the legislative and judicial branches, in addition to their executive powers: they issue rules with the force of law, exercising legislative powers; enforce those rules, exercising executive powers; and use their own judgment to settle disputes under them, exercising judicial powers.

To check this overreach of power, the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (CRA) allows Congress to disapprove of agency rules, effectively vetoing them; however, only 20 agency rules have been overturned by Congress under the CRA – meaning harmful major rules can stay in place without going through a rigorous and transparent legislative process. 
 
It is the constitutional purview of Congress to legislate – not federal agencies. By allowing unelected bureaucrats at these agencies to make laws, the power of the American public to hold their government accountable is completely undermined.
 

Rep. Kat Cammack’s legislation, H.R. 277, the REINS Act of 2023, requires congressional approval before “major rules” – such as those with an annual effect on the economy of at least $100 million or those that cause a major increase in prices – can take effect, instead of expressing disapproval after. 

Unaccountable bureaucrats should not be allowed to make laws behind closed doors that will have serious impacts on American way-of-life; House Republicans are stepping up to rein in executive overreach and keep the legislative process transparent and accountable to the American people for laws imposed on them.


Restoring Constitutional Separation of Powers

Our founding fathers designed the American government with a key aspect to ensure a system of checks and balances between the three branches of government: separation of powers.

But since the Supreme Court decision in Chevron, U.S.A, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., courts have been required to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of statutes as long as they are “reasonable” – even if they’re wrong.

Known as Chevron deference, this allows agencies to interpret statutes and rules in a way that expands their authority, as well as pass rules that become like laws, increasing the power of the administrative state by assuming powers from the Supreme Court and Congress. 

Last month, the Supreme Court announced they would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, that would assess the constitutionality of Chevron deference.


The courts act as an important check on the powers of federal agencies – especially since the federal agents making these decisions aren’t elected by or directly accountable to the American people. We can’t let agencies assume the role of the courts and expand their power unchecked. 

H.R. 288, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, sponsored by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, restores proper constitutional separation of powers by amending the Administrative Procedure Act to override Chevron deference and require courts to decide disputes over interpretation of statutory text. 

Agencies can’t be allowed to run free without any checks on their power – we’ve already seen how frequently federal agencies abuse their authority. House Republicans will continue to fight to restore our government to the way the Founding Fathers intended.