Senator Schmitt Leads Senate Colleagues in Reintroducing Bills to Rein in Administrative State

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Eric Schmitt reintroduced two bills aimed at dismantling the power of the Administrative State – the Expediting Reform and Stopping Excess Regulations Act (ERASER) Act and Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA):

“Reining in an out-of-control administrative state has long been one of my top priorities, and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the incoming Trump Administration to accomplish the shared goal of gutting the administrative state and clawing power out of the hands of nameless, faceless bureaucrats and returning it back to the people. The ERASER Act would require agencies who wish to enact a new regulation to pull three regulations off the books. And the Separation of Powers Restoration Act would put a stop to courts’ deference to agency interpretation on regulations and enact a much stricter review, putting power back in the hands of the People where it belongs. This is a critical one-two punch to the bloated administrative state, and I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration on this critical effort.” said Senator Eric Schmitt. 

BACKGROUND:

Specifically, the ERASER Act: 

• Prohibits an agency from issuing a rule unless the same agency has repealed at least three (3) rules, that to the extent practicable, are related to the rule. 
• Prohibits an agency from issuing a major rule unless the agency has repealed three (3) or more rules AND the cost of the new major rule is less than or equal to the cost of the rules repealed, as certified by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
  • Major rules include any rules that (a) cost $100 million or more, (b) cause a major increase in costs or prices for consumers or individual industries, or (c) have a significant adverse effect on competition, employment, investment, or innovation of US businesses.
• Clarifies that a repealed rule cannot be an interpretative rule, general statement of policy, or rule of agency organization and ensures a repealed rule went through the notice-and-comment process.
• Provides very limited exceptions for internal governance of an agency.
• Requires GAO to conduct a study on all rules currently in effect as of the date of the bill’s enactment.

Specifically, SOPRA:

• Places a de novo standard of review within the text of 5 U.S.C. 706, ending unconstitutional executive deference standards once and for all.
  • Under a de novo standard of review, courts will weigh the merits of the argument without a deference standard to either side, placing American citizens and businesses—either caught on the wrong side of a regulatory enforcement action or challenging the validity of agency action—on an equal footing in court with an administrative agency. The House passed this bill in the 118th Congress.
• Allows the courts reviewing agency actions to decide all relevant questions of law, including the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions, rules made by agencies, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy.

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) cosponsored the ERASER Act, and Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Rand Paul (R-KY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Ted Budd (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) cosponsored SOPRA.