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1 [1] (July 9, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govepje0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Informing the IegisI9tive debate since 1914 July 9, 2024 The Congressional Review Act: The Lookback Mechanism and Presidential Transitions The Congressional Review Act (CRA, 5 U.S.C. §§801-808) is a tool that Congress can use to overturn federal regulations. Enacted in 1996, the CRA requires that agencies submit covered rules to Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) before they may take effect. Congress then has a limited period of time to use special fast-track procedures to consider legislation overturning those rules. If a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted, it has the effect of overturning the rule-either by taking the rule out of effect immediately or by preventing it from taking effect at all. If the rule had already gone into effect, it is to be treated as though it was never in effect. Furthermore, the agency is prohibited from reissuing the rule in substantially the same form unless Congress provides additional statutory authorization. The CRA also has a feature that is sometimes referred to as its lookback mechanism. The lookback mechanism provides Congress with additional time to review rules that were submitted toward the end of the previous session. This feature is most relevant as the end or potential end of a President's Administration approaches, because a new Congress and new President might be able to more easily overturn rules issued by the outgoing Administration. This In Focus describes why the lookback mechanism is most relevant during a presidential transition, describes how the lookback date is calculated, and makes a general estimate about when the lookback date might fall in 2024 under certain assumptions. Re evance of the CRA in Pres dential Transitons Like regular legislation, a CRA joint resolution of disapproval requires passage in both chambers of Congress and signature by the President to become law. Obtaining the President's support to overturn a rule issued by his own Administration is an unlikely prospect, however, and creates a practical challenge for using the CRA: Most of the time, when presented with a joint resolution of disapproval, a President can be expected to veto it. Congress could attempt to override a presidential veto, but that requires a two-thirds majority of each house of Congress. This creates a de facto supermajority requirement for a CRA joint resolution of disapproval to be enacted in most cases. The exception to this, however, is the first few months of a new presidential Administration, particularly if the new President is of a different party and therefore has different policy preferences than the previous President. Due to the structure of the time periods during which Congress can take action under the CRA, there is a period at the beginning of each new Administration during which rules issued near the end of the previous Administration- sometimes referred to as midnight rules-are eligible for review under the CRA. If Congress were to consider a joint resolution of disapproval to overturn a rule issued by the prior Administration, a new President may be more willing to sign the joint resolution into law. (For more information on midnight rulemaking, see CRS Insight IN11539, Presidential Transitions: Midnight Rulemaking.) The vast majority of the instances in which the CRA was used to overturn rules took place during such a period. Of the 20 rules that have been overturned by the CRA, 18 were issued by prior, outgoing Administrations. CRA Time Periods for Rev ew Under the CRA, before a final rule can take effect, an agency must submit that rule to both houses of Congress. After a rule is received in both chambers and published in the Federal Register, the CRA establishes specific time periods during which Congress can introduce and act on a joint resolution that, if enacted, would disapprove the rule. Specifically, the CRA creates: * an introduction period, which lasts for 60 calendar days (excluding days on which either house has adjourned pursuant to a concurrent resolution), during which joint resolutions disapproving the rule can be introduced in either chamber; * a discharge period, which lasts for 20 calendar days, after which a petition signed by 30 Senators can be filed to discharge a Senate committee from the further consideration of a CRA joint resolution of disapproval; and * a Senate action period, which lasts for 60 days of Senate session, during which a disapproval resolution can be considered in the Senate under fast track parliamentary procedures that permit a simple majority to call up and reach a final vote on the joint resolution without a cloture process. All three of these time periods begin upon receipt and publication of the rule, and they run simultaneously. For rules not submitted to Congress but nevertheless determined by GAO to be covered by the CRA's definition of rule, under current practice, the three time periods begin to run once the GAO opinion has been published in the Congressional Record.

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