Washington Update From the US Oil and Gas Association

We Were Warned

February 16, 2024

The Great Regulatory Flood of 2024 is about to begin  

The Biden administration is racing to finalize several regulations. Why? Because like everything else in Washington – Trump. Trump is always the reason for the regulatory season.  If President Trump wins in November, and if the Senate and House are also Republican (or at least very close),  Trump and allies can use the Congressional Review Act to overturn regulations quickly.  This is what happened in 2017 when the Democrats were shocked by Trump beating Clinton.    

The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn agency rules within 60 congressional session days after a regulation is finalized. Because Congress’ schedule isn’t known, the actual deadline for the Biden administration to meet is not set in stone, but history suggests that the deadline will likely be May or June. 

Trump and Republican allies were able to use the Congressional Review Act in 2017 to overturn some of Obama’s regulations and the Biden administration hopes to avoid the same problem. However, the federal rulemaking process is slow and if the administration tries to move too quickly, they can make procedural errors and courts will overturn their rules.