Senate Republicans are hard at work to accomplish the goals we laid out over the last two years to help our nation get back on track. My colleagues and I are confirming nominees to ensure President Trump has the team he needs to be successful, working to pass legislation to keep our communities safe, restoring law and order at our border, and more.

As part of this effort we have also been diligently reviewing the actions of federal agencies during the final weeks of the Biden administration, when some agencies worked overtime to enact far-left, radical regulations – many of which do not reflect the interests of many Arkansans and Americans.

While government departments and agencies have some discretion in implementing the policies and laws passed by Congress, their interpretations and enforcement can exceed or even defy lawmakers’ intent. This is an acute problem that creates real hardships in communities around our state and nationwide.

Fortunately, Congress has a legislative tool known as the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to apply appropriate oversight and eliminate onerous regulations imposed by the executive branch. A CRA resolution, approved by a simple majority in both chambers of Congress and signed by the president, will invalidate a rule. Once invalidated, an agency is not permitted to create and implement similar rules unless explicitly passed through new legislation. 

This process, used since 1996, has been an important measure to counter overzealous regulatory burdens and bureaucratic red tape that negatively impact individuals, industries and innovation.

Rolling back costly and ineffective Biden-era rules has been a top priority for Senate Republicans. So far this Congress, my colleagues and I have successfully passed 14 CRAs to promote American energy dominance, bolster small businesses and ensure protections for biological women and girls. 

Many of the last administration’s burdensome mandates were blatant attempts to enforce radical climate policies that would never pass Congress, due to their damaging economic consequences. Some examples of CRAs passed to counter Biden administration rules include eliminating roadblocks to offshore oil and gas production, blocking the implementation of a natural gas tax and repealing onerous “energy efficiency” regulations that threaten small businesses and consumers. Just this week, my colleagues and I were proud to pass an additional CRA to limit unreasonable mandates on rubber tire manufacturers that are already required to meet environmental standards.

We have also made strides to block overreach in other important areas, reversing an attempt to target digital payment platforms like Venmo and Cash App. By taking aim at this regulation, we are protecting consumer choice and encouraging growth and innovation for emerging financial tools while blocking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from surveilling the transactions of everyday, hardworking Americans and business owners.

Just this past week, Senate Republicans passed four additional CRAs to push back on more extreme rule-making that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority, deprived parent’s rights to ensure children’s internet safety and created bureaucratic red tape that would overcomplicate product labeling. 

Our progress is deliberately reversing rulings that have cost Americans $1.8 trillion, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and the Trump administration to eliminate these unreasonable or ill-conceived hurdles. Doing so benefits Arkansas’s economy and opportunities for generations to come.