Election law changes? Our legislation tracker’s got you. Check it out!

Federal agency rules repealed under the Congressional Review Act

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
New Administrative State Banner.png
Administrative State
Administrative State Icon Gold.png
Read more about the administrative state on Ballotpedia.
See also: Congressional Review Act, Uses of the Congressional Review Act under the Trump administration, and Uses of the Congressional Review Act during the Biden administration

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is a federal law passed in 1996 that affords Congress a check on the rulemaking activities of federal agencies. The law creates a review period during which Congress, by passing a joint resolution of disapproval later signed by the president, can overturn a new federal agency rule and block the issuing agency from creating a similar rule in the future.[1][2][3] The CRA had been used to repeal 42 rules as of December 11, 2025.[4][5][6]

Before 2017, the only successful use of the CRA was in 2001 when the recently sworn-in Congress and President George W. Bush (R) reversed an ergonomic standards rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration during the final months of the previous administration.

During his presidency, Barack Obama (D) vetoed five CRA resolutions addressing environmental, labor, and financial policy.[3][4]

In the first four months of his first term, President Donald Trump (R) signed 14 CRA resolutions from Congress undoing a variety of rules issued near the end of Barack Obama's (D) presidency.[1][2][3][7] In total, Congress repealed 16 rules using the CRA during Trump's first term.[8][9] Trump vetoed one resolution of disapproval near the end of his first term in 2020.[10]

On June 30, 2021, Joe Biden (D) signed three CRA resolutions of disapproval, bringing the total number of rules repealed through the CRA to 20.[11][12][13] Biden also vetoed 11 resolutions of disapproval during 2023 and 2024.

In his second term, Donald Trump (R) has signed 22 joint resolutions of disapproval as of December 11, 2025.


Resolutions of disapproval enacted by presidential administration through December 2025:

Below is a table showing all of the rules repealed under the Congressional Review Act as of December 2025. It also shows the 17 CRA resolutions that were vetoed and failed to repeal rules:[5][14][15][16]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. News, "Democrats Push to Repeal Congressional Review Act," June 1, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Hill, "The Congressional Review Act and a deregulatory agenda for Trump's second year," March 31, 2017
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Smithsonian Magazine, "What Is the Congressional Review Act?" February 10, 2017
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Quartz, "The obscure law Donald Trump will use to unwind Obama's regulations," December 1, 2016
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center, "Congressional Review Act Tracker 2017," accessed July 28, 2017
  6. ↑ The White House, "Remarks by President Biden Signing Three Congressional Review Act Bills into Law: S.J.Res.13; S.J.Res.14; and S.J.Res.15," June 30, 2021
  7. ↑ New York Times, "Which Obama-Era Rules Are Being Reversed in the Trump Era," May 18, 2017
  8. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.J.Res.57," accessed May 22, 2018
  9. ↑ Congressional Record, "Vol. 167, No. 20: Proceedings and Debates of the 117th Congress, First Session," February 3, 2021
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named trumpveto
  11. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.J.Res.13 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission relating to "Update of Commission's Conciliation Procedures"," accessed July 30, 2021
  12. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.J.Res.14 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources Review"," accessed July 30, 2021
  13. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.J.Res.15 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency relating to "National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders"," accessed July 30, 2021
  14. ↑ Government Accountability Office, "Congressional Review Act FAQs," accessed July 31, 2017
  15. ↑ Reuters, "Trump kills class-action rule against banks, lightening Wall Street regulation," November 1, 2017
  16. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.J.Res.57," accessed May 22, 2018
v • e
The Administrative State
MainThe Administrative State Project Badge.png
Pillars
Reporting
Laws
Administrative Procedure Act • Antiquities Act • Civil Service Reform Act • Clayton Antitrust Act • Communications Act of 1934 • Congressional Review Act • Electronic Freedom of Information Act • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 • Federal Housekeeping Statute • Federal Reserve Act • Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Freedom of Information Act • Government in the Sunshine Act • Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 • Information Quality Act • Interstate Commerce Act • National Labor Relations Act • Paperwork Reduction Act • Pendleton Act • Privacy Act of 1974 • Regulatory Flexibility Act • REINS Act • REINS Act (Wisconsin) • Securities Act of 1933 • Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • Sherman Antitrust Act • Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act • Truth in Regulating Act • Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Cases
Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner • A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States • Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp • Auer v. Robbins • Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe • Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California • Field v. Clark • Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation • Humphrey's Executor v. United States • Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha • J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States • Lucia v. SEC • Marshall v. Barlow's • Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency • Mistretta v. United States • National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company • National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. • Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan • Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation • Skidmore v. Swift & Co. • United States v. Lopez • United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. • Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board • Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Wayman v. Southard • Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service • Whitman v. American Trucking Associations • Wickard v. Filburn • Wiener v. United States
Terms
Adjudication (administrative state) • Administrative judge • Administrative law • Administrative law judge • Administrative state • Arbitrary-or-capricious test • Auer deference • Barrier to entry • Bootleggers and Baptists • Chevron deference (doctrine) • Civil servant • Civil service • Code of Federal Regulations • Codify (administrative state) • Comment period • Compliance costs • Congressional Record • Coordination (administrative state) • Deference (administrative state) • Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) • Enabling statute • Ex parte communication (administrative state) • Executive agency • Federal law • Federal Register • Federalism • Final rule • Formal rulemaking • Formalism (law) • Functionalism (law) • Guidance (administrative state) • Hybrid rulemaking • Incorporation by reference • Independent federal agency • Informal rulemaking • Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) • Major rule • Negotiated rulemaking • Nondelegation doctrine • OIRA prompt letter • Organic statute • Pragmatism (law) • Precautionary principle • Promulgate • Proposed rule • Publication rulemaking • Regulatory budget • Regulatory capture • Regulatory dark matter • Regulatory impact analysis • Regulatory policy officer • Regulatory reform officer • Regulatory review • Rent seeking • Retrospective regulatory review • Risk assessment (administrative state) • Rulemaking • Separation of powers • Significant regulatory action • Skidmore deference • Statutory authority • Substantive law and procedural law • Sue and settle • Sunset provision • Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions • United States Code • United States Statutes at Large
Bibliography
Agencies
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Federal_agency_rules_repealed_under_the_Congressional_Review_Act&oldid=10719237"