This bill (H.R. 427) 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 legislation is to rein in the executive from usurping legislative powers via executive fiat.
The House passed the REINS Act on July 28, 2015 by a vote of 243 to 165 (Roll Call 482). 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 might not be called laws, but they have the same effect as laws, and what they are called does not change the reality.
