Ryan demands regulators ‘change the way they write rules’

Congress should have more power over regulators, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on Tuesday.

{mosads}”We are calling for Washington to change the very ways it writes rules,” Ryan told reporters as part of a broader GOP policy rollout.

“If the proposals that are cooked up in these bureaucracies are really so important, then let the people’s elected representatives decide,” he added. “No major regulations should become law unless Congress takes a vote.”

The Republican regulatory agenda would give lawmakers the authority to reject controversial rules, while federal agencies would be slapped with a regulatory budget.

The GOP says its plan would also eliminate costly and outdated rules.

Ryan rolled out the plan Tuesday afternoon alongside a dozen other House Republicans.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said business owners should not be treated like “enemies.”

“Regulators [should] respect the people they’re supposed to regulate,” Ryan added.

The GOP leaders called for changes to controversial financial, energy, environmental and internet regulations.

“We will deregulate so that we will have an unleashing of economic growth and capital formation,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

This comes after Hensarling last week announced a plan to roll back the controversial Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

House Energy Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said regulators should be put on a “time clock” when deciding whether to approve permits.

“Take a look at the Keystone XL pipeline,” Upton said. “That application was in the process for six years before the president ultimately rejected it.”

“We need a sense of order for the industry, so they know what the rules and regulations will be, rather than years and years of delay,” he added.

The GOP plan also includes broader regulatory reform initiatives such as the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which President Obama has threatened to veto. 

Ryan offered strong support for the REINS Act, which would give lawmakers the final say over controversial regulations. The House passed the legislation last July, but the Senate has yet to move the bill through committee.

Ryan also called for regulators to be held to a budget that would limit their rulemaking activities, but critics say this would handcuff federal agencies.

Republicans would also like to require federal agencies to implement the “least-costly” regulations.

The GOP also plans to take another shot at creating a regulatory commission that has the power to sift through agency rulebooks and eliminate outdated regulations.

The House passed the Searching for and Cutting Regulations That Are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act in January, but the Senate has yet to take it up.