WASHINGTON—On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and all 49 of their Republican colleagues in a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify the Biden administration’s new regulation, “National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Regulations Revisions,” that will further bog down the already-onerous federal permitting process and add further delay to building vital infrastructure projects and putting hard-working Americans back to work. The recently enacted Biden administration NEPA rules, authored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), substantially roll-back the Trump administration’s 2020 NEPA regulations, which were the first major modernization of federal environmental reviews since 1978.
The CRA provides Congress an expedited mechanism to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. A joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA is afforded special procedures, bypassing normal Senate rules and allowing for a vote on the Senate floor. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by a simple majority in both houses of Congress and signed by the President—or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto—the rule is invalidated.
Sens. Johnson and Sullivan are joined on the CRA resolution by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
The full text of the resolution can be found here.
