Congressional Approval of Major Regulations. This legislation (H.R. 10) is entitled the \”Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act\” and is also known as the REINS Act. It would prohibit the executive branch from putting into effect major rules — rules having an economic impact of at least $100 million per year – until those rules are approved by Congress. The intent of the bill is to rein in the executive from usurping legislative powers via executive fiat.
The House passed the REINS Act on December 7, 2011 by a vote of 241 to 184 (Roll Call 901). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because all legislative powers in the Constitution are vested in Congress, not the executive branch. Mandatory rules issued by the executive branch may not be called laws, but they have the same effect as laws, and what they are called does not change the reality.
