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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Washington, June 14, 2023
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor today:
 
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.” 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.


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. 

“I think, too often, we’re quick to leap to these new ideas without a critical review of the underlying premise, understanding what’s really happening, and what the true impact is. We’ve got to be very, very careful that we don’t move too fast. My business and thousands like it have created a product that is impacted by the type of energy source used to create it. The chefs and cooks at restaurants like mine across the country, are very good at their craft. They are professionals, who use gas stoves as a tool to create the dishes that make our menus stand out as our own. I appreciate Congress taking up this issue for the home cook, and hope that they will ensure that restaurant owners will continue to have the option to choose the cooking element that best serves their cuisine,” said Tom Hutchinson, President, La Posta Group, Mesilla, New Mexico.

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.