White House threatens veto of GOP regs crackdown

President Obama is threatening to block Republican-backed legislation that would roll back his regulatory power.

The White House said Monday evening that the president’s advisers would recommend he veto the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act if it is sent to the his desk.

The controversial regulatory reform bill, which the House will vote on later this week, would give Congress the final say over all major regulations.

“This radical departure from the longstanding separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches would delay, and in many cases, thwart implementation of statutory mandates and executive of duly-enacted laws,” the White House wrote.

The regulatory reform measure would give Congress final say over any rule with an annual economic impact of $100 million or more. Federal agencies would be required to submit major rules to Congress for approval before they could take effect. This would all but guarantee Republicans the ability to block dozens of controversial rules from the Obama administration and drastically slow the pace of regulations.

Republicans say this is a necessary measure to keep the Obama administration’s regulatory power in check, but the White House warns it would “undermine much-needed protections of the American public” and throw these rules into “limbo.”

The White House said the REINS Act is unnecessary.

“This administration has already taken numerous steps to reduce regulatory costs and to ensure that all major regulations are designed to maximize net benefits to society,” the White House wrote.

Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) is sponsoring the legislation in the House, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is backing the measure in the upper chamber.

This will be the third time in four years that the House has passed the REINS Act. What’s different this time around is that the regulatory reform bill could also see action in the Senate, which is now controlled by Republicans.