“Individual freedoms and rights are of the utmost importance” Richard Shelby opposes Joe Biden mandates.
The Senate approved a resolution to nullify the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate on Wednesday. The mandate requires businesses with 100 or more employees must have their employees vaccinated or be tested weekly. This week, a federal court granted Alabama’s motion for an injunction against the vaccination requirement. Indiana Senator Mike Braun sponsored the Congressional Review Act, which passed the Senate by a vote of 52-48. The Congressional Review Act (CRA), which was signed into law in 1996, is a tool Congress may use to overturn rules issued by federal agencies. The CRA requires agencies to report on their rulemaking activities to Congress and provides Congress with a special set of procedures to consider legislation to overturn those rules. Senator Richard Shelby issued a statement expressing appreciation for the efforts to overturn the mandate arguing the mandate is government overreach. “As I’ve said before, President Biden’s vaccine mandate violates our constitutional liberties and is federal overreach at its finest. Today I was proud to vote for Senator Braun’s CRA to overturn that mandate. While I urge people to consult with their doctor about getting vaccinated, I believe our individual freedoms and rights are of the utmost importance,” stated Senator Shelby. The CRA would provide fast-track procedures for Congress to consider a joint resolution to overturn an agency’s rule. The bill will head to the House, where it will face opposition from Democrats.
Bradley Byrne moves to overturn OSHA’s ‘unlawful power grab’
In the final weeks of the Obama administration, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule clarifying an employer’s continuing obligation to make and maintain an accurate log of workplace injuries and illnesses for five years after they occur. While OSHA inspectors have long used this information to enhance health and safety protections in America’s jobsites, the law explicitly says that employers can only be cited for record-keeping violations within a six-month time period. Yet the new “Volks” rule, extends the threat of penalty up to five years, which many consider an attempt to make an end-run around a 2012 D.C. Circuit Court decision that previously ended the five-year practice. Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Bryrne is working to overturn the new rule, which he calls an “unlawful power grab by the Obama administration.” Chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Bryne introduced a resolution of disapproval, H. J. Res 83, under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the rule and reject a failed approach to workplace safety on Tuesday. “Every worker deserves safe and healthy working conditions, and bad actors who put hardworking men and women in harm’s way must be held accountable,” said Byrne. “That’s why Republicans have consistently called on OSHA to improve its enforcement efforts and collaborate with employers to address gaps in safety.” Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress may pass a resolution of disapproval to prevent, with the full force of law, a federal agency from implementing a rule or issuing a rule that is substantially the same without congressional authorization. Chairman Byrne’s resolution would block OSHA’s “Volks” rule from taking effect and prevent future administrations from promulgating a similar rule. Bryne continued, “Unfortunately, the Obama administration consistently doubled down on failed, punitive policies that do more to tie small businesses in red tape than protect workers. With this rule, OSHA rewrote federal law while doing nothing to improve worker health and safety. Congress must reject this unlawful power grab and encourage the agency to adopt the responsible, proactive safety approach that America’s workers deserve.” Prior to Byrne’s resolution, two federal appeals courts have rejected the policies reflected in the rule after a Louisiana construction company was cited for paperwork errors occurring nearly five years prior. “We do not believe Congress expressly established a statute of limitations only to implicitly encourage the Secretary to ignore it,” the D.C. Circuit Court noted.
GOP-led Congress moves to block Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan
Congressional Republicans are moving to block President Barack Obama‘s plan to force steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rep. Ed Whitfield say they will file resolutions early this week opposing Obama’s plan to impose new regulations on new and existing coal-fired plants. The two Kentucky Republicans were expected to file the challenges filed under the little-used Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to block executive actions with simply majority votes. The maneuver is subject to a presidential veto and has rarely been successful in overturning executive branch rules. Still, it allows opponents to set up votes calculated to embarrass the Obama administration ahead of international climate talks in Paris this fall. Republican senators are expected to tout the congressional challenge in a series of floor speeches starting Tuesday. One notable exception is New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who became the first GOP senator to support Obama’s sweeping regulation that mandates carbon emissions cuts from the nation’s power plants. Ayotte, who is locked in a difficult re-election fight, said Sunday that the Clean Power Plan would “address climate change through clean-energy solutions that will protect our environment.” New Hampshire is already well on its way to meet the plans’ goals, Ayotte said, adding that she would monitor the plan to ensure it does not have an adverse impact on state energy costs. McConnell said in a statement that the regulations being imposed under the Clean Power Plan “make it clearer than ever that the president and his administration have gone too far – and that Congress should act to stop this regulatory assault.” The administration’s “crusade for ideological purity” threatens the livelihoods of coal miners and their families in Kentucky and other states, McConnell said. “These are Kentuckians who just want to work, provide for their families and deliver the type of low-cost energy that attracts more jobs to Kentucky. And coal is what allows so many of them do all that,” he said. The congressional resolutions follow court challenges filed Friday by industry groups and states dependent on fossil fuels. The challenges from all but two of the 25 states were filed by Republicans. They deride the plan as an “unlawful power grab by Washington bureaucrats” that will kill coal mining jobs and drive up electricity costs. The Obama administration and environmental groups counter that the rules are needed to cut carbon emissions while curbing the worst impacts of climate change and sea-level rise. They also say the plan will spur new clean-energy jobs. The new rules require states to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030, based on emissions in 2005. Each state has a customized target and is responsible for drawing up an effective plan to meet its goal. The EPA says it has authority to enact the plan under the Clean Air Act. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
