WASHINGTON _ House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP committee chairmen sent a letter Monday to all the government agencies requesting that no new regulations move forward under the Obama administration.
"This is not a new request," McCarthy said at a press conference Tuesday. "This request actually happened when Barack Obama won; Rahm Emanuel sent the same letter."
The House GOP's efforts to block the lame-duck president from advancing regulations don't end at the letter. The House will vote this week on legislation to prevent the so-called "midnight regulations."
Obama has threatened to veto that measure, but conservatives have suggested that a provision to ban midnight regulations be attached to an upcoming appropriations vehicle to keep the government funded beyond Dec. 9. Conservatives want that vehicle to be a continuing resolution rather than an omnibus or a series of minibuses, but House GOP leaders are still discussing that with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team.
McCarthy declined to specify whether a provision banning midnight regulations would be attached to the year-end appropriations vehicle, saying, "We'll continue to work to see where we end up."
But the California Republican added that a ban is not the final backstop.
"You also have the Congressional Review Act, so if they do do something, we can always come back and vote it out," he said. "It would just be a dumb move on their part from agency to try to move anything."
