With Republicans believing they will reclaim both houses of Congress in the November midterms --with the House the most likely going from a Democratic majority to a GOP majority -- the Washington Examiner is reporting that conservatives hope to make rule changes that will keep President Joe Biden from using a key presidential tool to effect change.
According to the Examiner's Haisten Willis, Republicans are not only being encouraged to limit Biden's ability to implement executive orders, but they are also getting help from the far-right lobbying group Heritage Action with proposed rule changes.
The day after Biden addressed executive orders in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, telling the late-night host, "I have issued executive orders within the power of the presidency to be able to deal with everything having to do with guns, gun ownership… all of the things that are within my power. But what I don't want to do, and I'm not being facetious, I don't want to emulate Trump's abuse of the constitution and constitutional authority," the Examiner is reporting Republicans hope to derail any attempts he does make to use them.
The Examiner report states, "Biden has already attempted many unilateral actions through executive orders or executive branch agencies," before adding, "In preparation for this and to fight current executive proposals, conservatives are sharpening their advocacy tools to make sure their voices are heard within the White House. Many of the proposed rule changes require a public comment process, during which they can be slowed down or even defeated by popular backlash."
According to Heritage Action's Executive Director Jessica Anderson, "What I hear so much while I'm on the road is: 'What can we do to impact the Biden regime?' There's a lot of frustration where people feel like they're calling a member of Congress and nothing happens because Republicans don't have control."
According to the Examiner's Willis, demanding a pause for public comments has previously worked well for conservatives, with the report pointing out that "Heritage Action's first big push came last summer when the Department of Education proposed plans to fund grants for programs based on critical race theory. Heritage pushed a toolkit and sent activists to the Federal Register. More than 35,000 public comments were sent in on the proposed rule ahead of the deadline, and the Education Department later walked back its plans."
According to Anderson, "By us engaging more forcefully and strategically in their rulemaking process, we'll be in the position to point out when the Biden administration is trying to circumvent and prevent Americans from weighing in."
She then added, "We should have been doing this a long time ago."
