Defending the Right to Bear Arms

Once again, unelected agency bureaucrats within the Biden Administration are trying to control Americans’ daily lives with a new rule.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is pushing outrageous regulations in a power grab that would criminalize firearm ownership for millions of hardworking Americans.

Under the Biden ATF’s new rule, pistols with a stabilizing brace attachment would be reclassified as short-barreled rifles, and gun owners who fail to register their pistols with stabilizing braces with the ATF could face 10 years in jail and fines up to $10,000.

This rule is yet another instance of the Biden Administration weaponizing the federal government against everyday Americans, this time with an unconstitutional attack on the Second Amendment. 
 
Rep. Andrew Clyde’s legislation, H.J. Res. 44, would block the Biden Administration’s unconstitutional pistol brace rule and protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights. 

House Republicans will always defend Americans’ right to bear arms and fight executive overreach and burdensome regulations.

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Denouncing Biden's Veto of Legislation Supporting Police Officers and Protecting Our Communities

As crime continues to skyrocket in our nation’s capital, Democrats go after the police working to protect the community instead of the criminals.

The D.C. Council’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 gives more power to anti-police activists, allows individual police officers to be targeted by protestors, and strips officers of collective bargaining rights regarding discipline. 

Under the D.C. Council’s emergency legislative powers, these harmful policies have been in place since 2020; meanwhile, the D.C. police numbers have dropped by 500 and crime has risen dramatically. 
Now, the D.C. Council wants to make these failing policies permanent.

Rep. Andrew Clyde’s legislation, H.J. Res. 42, expresses Congressional disapproval of the D.C. Council’s harmful anti-police Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, and prevents the Act from going into effect. 

Despite both the House and the Senate passing Rep. Clyde's resolution considerable bipartisan support, President Biden chose to veto this legislation. 

House Republicans will always stand with our men and women in uniform who risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe. 

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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.

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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.