On January 13, the House passed, by a vote of 253-166, a "resolution of disapproval" ( S.J. Res. 22) that would invalidate the new Clean Water Act "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) rule and would also prevent the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from revising the rule or developing a "substantially similar" rule in the future. The Senate passed S.J. Res. 22 on November 4, with some Democratic support, by a vote of 53-44, and it now heads to President Obama, who has said he will veto the measure. Because the House and Senate lack the votes to override President Obama's veto, the resolution won't have any practical effect. But it may bolster further attempts to legislatively undercut the WOTUS rule, probably during the FY 2017 appropriations process later this year. Veto or not, passage of the resolution by the House and Senate demonstrates that a majority of Congress opposes the rule, which is already under attack in the courts by more than half the states. Read more...

On January 12, the House passed, by a vote of 235-188, the "Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining (STREAM) Act" ( H.R. 1644). The bill would prevent the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) from issuing any rules related to the disposal of surface mining waste near streams, delaying the implementation of the Obama Administration's Stream Protection Rule which was released in proposed form in July 2015. The bill would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) to require the Secretary of the Interior to make public all "scientific products" including raw data for studies conducted with federal funding - that went into the development of proposed or final rules, at least ninety days in advance. H.R. 1644 would also require the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to submit a study on the effectiveness of existing rules since 1983. Additionally, the bill would block the Interior Department from issuing any rules related to stream protection until a year after the NAS report has been issued. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy threatening to veto H.R. 1644 because the bill "would prevent the restoration of hundreds of streams, result in deterioration of water quality for thousands of stream miles, and create sustained regulatory uncertainty, as well as public health impacts for downstream communities." Read more...

On January 11, the House passed, by voice vote, the "Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act" ( S. 1115), which the Senate passed by Unanimous Consent on Dec. 18. The bill would require all federal agencies to close out expired grant accounts with zero dollar balances and undisbursed funding remaining. The GONE Act would require the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to direct federal agencies to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit a report to Congress that identifies remaining expired grants. HHS was charged with leading a previous effort that closed out thousands of expired grants. Following the submission of this report to Congress, federal agencies would then have one year to confirm that they have closed out all expired grants. Additionally, the inspector general of any federal agency receiving over $500 million in annual grant funding would be required to conduct a risk assessment to determine if an audit or review of the agency's grant closeout process is necessary. S. 1115 is now headed to President Obama's desk where he is expected to sign the bill into law soon. Read more...

On January 11, the House passed, by a vote of 413-0, the "Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act" ( H.R. 598). The bill makes it easier to evaluate federal government spending by requiring federal agencies to identify their programs and provide basic information on what the program does and how much they cost. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would need to include a program inventory on its website that identifies each program of the federal government for which there is more than $1 million in annual budget authority. Such inventory would include: (1) any activity that is commonly referred to as a program, and (2) any activity that is referenced in law as a program after June 30, 2018. OMB would also have to archive and preserve the information included in the program inventory; and, not later than February 1 of each fiscal year, publish on a public website the total amount of undisbursed grant funding remaining in grant accounts for which the period of availability to the grantee has expired. Read more...

On January 12, the Senate voted   53-44 on the motion to proceed to the "Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015" ( S. 2232), seven votes shy of the 60 necessary to move forward on a final vote on the bill. S. 2232 would increase congressional oversight of the Federal Reserve, as well as subject the central bank to an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) within 12 months of enactment of the bill. The bill would also require the GAO to report its findings and conclusions to Congress within 90 days of completing the audit. The only members of the Senate Democratic Caucus to vote in favor of moving forward on the bill were Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) while the only Senate Republican to vote against moving forward was Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). Read more...