Steve Moore has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal encouraging support for a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal a Biden Administration energy efficiency regulation that will effectively ban most natural gas instantaneous water heaters currently on the market. As one might expect, producers of such water heaters oppose the rule, while some of their competitors support it.
Because the rule was adopted in late December, it is eligible for repeal under the Congressional Review Act by a simple majority vote in each chamber and presidential signature. Neither a Senate filibuster nor other procedural hurdles can be used to block the vote. Should the measure pass, the Department of Energy would be precluded from re-adopting an equivalent rule in the future.
Moore's op-ed highlights how Congress can use the CRA to roll back regulations adopted at the end of the Biden Administration. But that is almost all the CRA is good for. More meaningful regulatory reform requires more meaningful legislative action.
