Who should rule the American people? The Democrats, despite their name, have all but answered, “unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.”
Republicans, by contrast, are rallying around the radical idea that Americans should rule ourselves.
This became clear Wednesday, when GOPers in the House passed the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, which would require that Congress approve or reject every major regulation, defined as costing $100 million or more a year, advanced by executive agencies.
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If our elected representatives approve a new mandate, it goes into effect; if they vote it down, it dies.
Such democratic accountability stands in stark contrast to the current system, which can best be described as “regulation without representation.” That’s fundamentally un-American.
House Republicans aren’t the only ones who support this commonsense reform.
In his Twitter event announcing his candidacy, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared he would sign the REINS Act.
He also co-sponsored the bill while in the House, as did Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott.
Donald Trump vowed in 2016 to sign the REINS Act if it came to his desk.
With candidates from Nikki Haley to Vivek Ramaswamy promising to get Washington under control, it’s all but certain every Republican running for the White House firmly supports the REINS Act.
Republicans are right to back this idea.
Our country’s constitutional system is premised on the idea that Congress writes the laws and the American people exercise ultimate control by voting out politicians who don’t do what we want.
The current situation reverses the situation: Congress doesn’t write the laws and the American people have no control over the people who do.
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The real policymakers are the army of bureaucrats, at least 2.1 million strong, who keep their jobs no matter who’s elected.
They are almost impossible to fire, they’re overwhelmingly liberal and they exert massive control — not just over the economy, but over our individual lives.
The Biden administration is the latest proof.
In just two years, this White House has used the vast bureaucracy to wrap Americans in red tape, proposing more than $1 trillion in new regulatory costs in 2022 alone.
The overwhelming majority of this pain comes from the major regulations that the REINS Act would cover.
The Biden administration has considered a ban on gas stoves.Christopher Sadowski
The bureaucracy is banning cars, light bulbs, air conditioners, energy sources and perhaps soon gas stoves — all without Congress even getting a vote.
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Ultimately, every penny of that trillion-plus dollars comes out of our wallets and paychecks.
The Biden administration is undermining democracy more than any other in history.
editorial Biden’s new emissions rules will slam the economy and hurt Americans
It has already imposed 50% more regulatory costs in its first two years than the Obama administration at the same point — quite a feat, since the Obama years were themselves record-breaking — with much more overregulation on the way.
At this rate, virtually all government business will soon be done by unelected bureaucrats, not by the officials we elect every two years like clockwork.
Simply voting President Joe Biden out of office won’t end this crisis.
The bureaucratic monstrosity, liberal as it is, just keeps plugging along with its command-and-control approach, no matter who’s in charge.
A Republican president can slow things down, but voters shouldn’t only get a chance to check the bureaucracy every four or eight years.
Congress should be forced to vote on every major regulation before it goes into effect. That way, the American people can speak through our elected representatives year-round.
Our constitutional system was always supposed to work like this.
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To be sure, both Democrats and Republicans helped break the system. Congress has spent more than 50 years passing laws without details, commanding bureaucrats to fill them in.
The White House has used regulations to push electric vehicles.Utrecht/Action Press via ZUMA Press
The REINS Act would begin to right this wrong. If Congress won’t write policies, it should be forced to give a green light or raise a red flag before a government mandate comes down.
Overseeing the law is the least we can expect from lawmakers.
With the REINS Act, we’d have no more buck-passing and no more shoulder-shrugging.
Instead, we’d finally get democratic accountability. We’d also get more affordability, since Congress would surely stop many of the costly and unpopular mandates that bureaucrats are currently handing down from on high.
Maybe that’s why 67% of voters support the REINS Act, according to a poll from my organization.
They want a responsive government and a reprieve from costly government mandates.
True, with Democrats controlling the Senate, the bill faces an uphill climb.
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But Republicans could retake the White House and Congress in just over a year.
Americans deserve a government that reflects our will and serves our interests.
Washington reflects the will of the few while serving liberal whims.
Republicans are saying enough is enough — and have the American people on their side.
Nick Stehle is vice president of communications at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
