Cutting down the size of government has long been a talking point for Republicans, and various initiatives and policies seek to do just that. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) joined with several other Senators, including Ted Cruz (R-TX), to reintroduce the Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act to trim down outdated or redundant government agency regulations.
Should the bill pass into law, an annual report by the Administrator of the Office for Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) will list any and all rules considered outdated, redundant, or burdensome. The appropriate Congressional committees will then take these rules and consolidate or repeal them in a single joint resolution.
OIRA would also take the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the President's Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions into account when determining which rules and regulations need consolidation or nixing, and, if passed, the Act would receive expedited consideration in Congress.
Notably, these processes would begin in two years, assuming the bill passes into law now. Perhaps Sen. Scott is hinging the bill on a Republican who wins the 2024 Presidential Election and will follow through?
In his press release, Sen. Scott said the bill was necessary when "Washington’s complete dysfunction is on full display" and blasted the Biden Administration's "overreaching and inflation-fueling policies."
"Washington’s complete dysfunction is on full display. Everywhere you look you see a confusing web of outdated regulations, duplicative processes, and burdensome red tape within our federal agencies, some of which haven’t been reviewed or used by these agencies for decades. It’s inefficient and a complete waste of tax dollars. Our Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act will streamline the federal government to make it work better for the American people. We did this in Florida when I was governor, cutting more than 5,000 burdensome regulations, and businesses thrived. With Joe Biden and Democrats’ overreaching and inflation-fueling policies hurting American families, it’s about time we bring this commonsense approach nationwide," said Scott.
The Act comes when House Republicans are plagued with infighting to create a spending agenda to avoid a government shutdown. Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) initially introduced a resolution cutting discretionary spending by 8%. Hardliner Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) voiced fierce criticism of Rep. Donalds' resolution, calling it "a terrible bill" that did not do enough to counter the Biden Administration's agenda.
