The REINS Act
OUR POSITION: CSS opposes the bill and urges lawmakers to vote against it.
The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act would require require all new economically significant regulations – in other words, the big-ticket public protections that provide the most health, safety, environmental and economic benefits – to be approved by both chambers of Congress before taking effect.
If both chambers were unable to approve a major rule within a 70-day window, the rule would not take effect and would be tabled until the next congressional session. In effect, the reigning dysfunction in Congress would endanger any important new regulation, no matter how uncontroversial it might be.
REINS is nothing more than a back-door way to gut enforcement of existing legislation and future safeguards that big-money interests do not want. It would force Congress to refight its previous debates, wasting time and money, and paralyzing vital agency work.
CSS Resources
House Attacks Regulation with Bills to Block New Public Protections
Press Release: June 13, 2023
Oppose the REINS Act
Fact Sheet: June 12, 2023
73 Groups Oppose the REINS Act (H.R. 277)
Letter to Members: June 6, 2023
Groups Oppose Inclusion of REINS Act in Debt Ceiling Package
Letter to Members: May 19, 2023
Groups Oppose the REINS Act of 2023
Letter to Members: February 27, 2023
68 Groups Tell Congress: Reject the REINS Act
Press Release: February 27, 2023
CSS Opposes the REINS Act of 2017 (S. 21)
Letter to Members: May 16, 2017
Damaging Regulatory Legislation in HSGAC Mark-Up
Fact Sheet: May 16: 2017
House Republicans Poised to Gut Our System of Public Protections
Press Release: January 4, 2017
CSS Opposes the REINS Act of 2017
Letter to Members: January 3, 2017
REINS Would Let Members of Congress Block Public Protections – By Doing Nothing
Press Release: July 28, 2015
CSS Opposes H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015
Letter to Members: July 28, 2015
Groups Oppose H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015
Letter to Members: July 28, 2015
Legal Experts Call on Congress to Oppose the REINS Act, H.R. 427
Letter to Members: April 14, 2015
CSS Opposes the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015, H.R. 427: House Judiciary Markup
Letter to Members: April 13, 2015
Corporate Congress Trying to Kill Public Safeguards
Editorial Board Alert: March 4, 2015
REINS Act Would Decimate Public Protections, But It’s a Messaging Stunt That Won’t Become Law
Press Release: August 2, 2013
CSS Opposes the REINS Act of 2013
Letter to Congress: July 26, 2013
Radical REINS Act — Distraction from Other Anti-Regulatory Bills
Press Release: March 8, 2013
House Completes Its Terrible Trifecta by Passing the REINS Act
Press Release: December 7, 2011
House Judiciary Committee’s Approval of REINS Act is Deplorable; Bill Would Destroy a Century of Progress on Public Protections
Press Release: October 25, 2011
REINS Act: A Radical Threat to Health, Safety and Other Public Protections
Press Release: October 13, 2011
REINS Act Would Undermine Crucial Public Protections
Press Release: March 8, 2011
Resources from Members and Allies
Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 277
White House Veto Threat: June 6, 2023
We Oppose the Draconian REINS Act
U.S. PIRG: June 6, 2023
AFSCME Opposes the REINS Act
AFSCME: June 5, 2023
The REINS Act Makes Congress the Public’s Adversary
Public Citizen: March 10, 2023
Sign-on Letter in Opposition to the REINS Act, H.R. 277
Center for Progressive Reform: February 28, 2023
CFA Urges Senate Committee Leaders to Oppose REINS Act
Consumer Federation of America: May 16, 2017
Oppose S. 951, S.34, S.21 – Radical Attacks on New Public Health and Environmental Safeguards in the Guise of “Regulatory Reform”
League of Conservation Voters: May 16, 2017
Regulations Often Help Working People, While Deregulation Serves Corporate Interests
Economic Policy Institute: April 11, 2017
Meanwhile, in Reality … Congress Works on Legislation to Inhibit Federal Safety Standards
Former U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.): March 15, 2017
The REINS Act: A Threat to Good Government and Clean Water
Clean Water Action: March 13, 2017
Why the REINS Act Is Unconstitutional
Center for Progressive Reform: February 14, 2017
The Inquisition Congress, Abetted by Trump, Has Begun
Union of Concerned Scientists: January 6, 2017
House Attacks Future Health, Environmental Protections
Natural Resources Defense Council: January 5, 2017
CR-CU Letter to the U.S. House Opposing H.R. 26, the REINS Act
Consumer Reports and Consumers Union: January 4, 2017
Oppose H.R 21 & 26 – Radical Attacks on Public Protections
League of Conservation Voters: January 4, 2017
Center for American Progress Opposes the REINS Act
Center for American Progress: January 4, 2017
Public Citizen Opposes the REINS Act
Public Citizen: January 4, 2017
Americans for Financial Reform Opposes the REINS Act
Americans for Financial Reform: January 4, 2017
Fact Sheet on the REINS Act
Public Citizen: January 3, 2017
APHA Opposes REINS Act and Midnight Rules Relief Act
American Public Health Association: January 3, 2017
Attacking Science in Week One: Congress Is Trying to Dismantle Public Protections
Union of Concerned Scientists: January 3, 2017
Public Citizen Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
Public Citizen: July 28, 2015
Letter to the House urging a NO vote on the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015
Consumers Union: July 28, 2015
AFL-CIO Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
AFL-CIO: July 28, 2015
ASBC Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
American Sustainable Business Council: July 28, 2015
CFA Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
Consumer Federation of America: July 28, 2015
UCS Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
Union of Concerned Scientists: July 28, 2015
Sierra Club Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
Sierra Club: July 28, 2015
Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 427
White House Veto Threat: July 27, 2015
NRDC Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act
Natural Resources Defense Council: July 27: 2015
Your Up-to-Date 10-Day Forecast for Capitol Hill: A Blizzard of Anti-Regulatory Bills
Center for Progressive Reform: January 28, 2015
Three Reasons the REINS Act Must be Stopped (Again)
Center for Effective Government: January 23, 2015
14 Ways the 114th Congress Plans to Attack the Environment and Undermine Public Health
Natural Resources Defense Council: January 17, 2015
The REINS Act: Unbridled Impediment to Regulation
Ronald M. Levin, Washington University in Saint Louis School of Law: January 9, 2015
A Double Homicide on the House Floor
Union of Concerned Scientists: August 4, 2015
Here We Go Again: The Polluters and Poisoners Gear Up for the Next Congress
Economic Policy Institute: November 10, 2014
Decoding the Bill: Lobbying Records Show That Electric Utility Industry Dominates Push for Deregulatory ‘REINS’ Legislation
Public Citizen: August 2011
The REINS Act: The Conservative Push to Undercut Regulatory Protections for Health, Safety, and the Environment
Center for Progressive Reform: February 2011
Press Coverage
Regulatory ‘Reform’ That Is Anything But
The New York Times: June 15, 2017
What Is the REINS Act? Health & Safety Regulations Could Be Affected
Bustle: January 27, 2017
Chemical Rules Could Be Foiled by Regulatory Oversight Bill
Bloomberg BNA: January 24, 2017
The End of Government Oversight?
The Atlantic: January 13, 2017
Suspending the Rules: How Congress Plans to Undermine Public Safety
The New Yorker: January 9, 2017
Pass a Regulation, Repeal Another: House Approves Provision Tied to Koch Industries
DeSmog Blog: January 6, 2017
The REINS Act: Handing the Reins of Public Health and Safety Over to Big Corporations
Medium: January 4, 2017
Sorry, Mr. Speaker, This Isn’t a ‘Better Way’
The Hill: June 15, 2016
Industry-Funded Lawmakers Target Public Health and Environmental Protections
The Huffington Post: June 11, 2016
A Lesson From Scalia: Regulatory Reform Is Obstruction
The Hill: February 25, 2016
The Little-Noticed Conservative Plan to Permanently Lock Democrats Out of Policymaking
ThinkProgress: November 16, 2015
House Votes to End All Major New Rules, Again
The Huffington Post: June 28, 2015
Fossil Fuel-Funded Lawmakers Want to Weaken Human and Environmental Health Protections
EcoWatch: June 16, 2015
Industry-Funded Lawmakers Target Public Health and Environmental Protections
The Huffington Post: June 11, 2015
Rand Paul and the Big-Polluter Agenda
The Huffington Post: April 30, 2015
New Life for ‘Zombie’ Regs Bills in Congress
The Hill: February 17, 2015
Senate GOP Building Momentum for Regulatory Reform
The Hill: January 23, 2015
Republicans Introduce Bill to Rein in Regulators
The Hill: January 22, 2015
Republican Statehouse Gains Load the Dice for Anti-EPA Bills
E&E Publishing: January 12, 2015
When It REINS, It Pours: The GOP’s Terrible Plan to Wield Congressional Power Over Agencies
The New Republic: February 10, 2011