The Congressional Review Act: The Case for Repeal, CPR Report 1801, by Thomas O. McGarity, Rena Steinzor, James Goodwin, and Katherine Tracy, May 2018.

In the 115th Congress, the GOP majority’s push to dismantle safeguards for health, safety and the environment, no tool has been more useful than the once-obscure Congressional Review Act (CRA). The law allows for the repeal of duly enacted regulatory safeguards using procedures that bypass meaningful deliberation and scrutiny – skipping committee consideration and sidestepping the Senate’s 60-vote cloture requirement.

May 2, 2018, Congressional Review Act Rollbacks Are Endangering Our Health and Safety

Rena Steinzor's September 28, 2017, testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform on the Congressional Review Act.

The Congressional Review Act: A Damage Assessment, op-ed by Thomas McGarity

In the first four months of his presidency, Donald Trump and his congressional allies used the Congressional Review Act to repeal 14 Obama era health, safety, labor, financial, education, energy, environmental rules. The law allows Congress to block "major" rules within 60 legislative days of adoption, with a joint resolution (not subject to the Senate's normal 60-vote requirement) and president's signature. CPR tracked the damage.

In the first few months of the Trump administration, Congress invoked a rarely used, little-known law called the Congressional Review Act to repeal a host of health, safety, and environmental regulations adopted during the Obama administration after years of consideration and public input. CPR tracked the congressional assault on our safeguards. See our chart from May 2017 detailing the damage.