Schmidt Works to Slash Red Tape, Dismantle Bureaucracy

May 8, 2025
Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC: The U.S. House of Representatives has now voted to overturn 15 bureaucratic rules adopted in the final days of the Biden administration. Congressman Derek Schmidt (KS-02) today released the following statement highlighting the House’s work to dismantle the administrative state:

 

“The unchecked growth of the federal bureaucracy is a serious threat to Kansans’ personal liberties. I believe, as President Reagan did, ‘that government is best which governs least,’ but that philosophy of small and limited government has gone out of fashion in Washington, DC. The Federal Register contains nearly 200,000 pages of rules and regulations made by bureaucrats no Americans elected, three times as much law as has been enacted by Congress. Eliminating unneeded federal regulations is essential to limiting the intrusion of big government into Kansans’ daily lives.

 

“So far this year, the House has voted to repeal 15 rules the Biden administration adopted on its way out the door, undoing big-government regulations on everything from what water heaters you can buy to what cars you can drive. I proudly supported these repeals. Much more must be done, and we will continue to roll back the bureaucracy rules that have overtaken our government for far too long.”

 

This week, Congressman Schmidt highlighted the regulatory burden facing America’s entrepreneurs as a part of House Republicans’ celebration of National Small Business Week.

 

Federal Rule Repeals Signed in Law

  • H.J. Res. 25: disapproves a Department of the Treasury rule imposing burdensome reporting requirements on developers of decentralized financial (DeFi) technology or digital assets.
  • H.J. Res. 35: disapproves an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule placing strict regulations on petroleum and natural gas systems.
  • S.J. Res. 11: disapproves a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management rule mandating costly, time-intensive archaeological reports for all oil and gas exploration or development plans.

 

Federal Rule Repeals Passed by Both Chambers of Congress

  • H.J. Res. 20: disapproves a Department of Energy (DOE) rule requiring gas-fired water heaters to meet unnecessarily high efficiency standards.
  • H.J. Res. 24: disapproves a DOE rule mandating burdensome energy efficiency standards on walk-in coolers and freezers.

  • H.J. Res. 42: disapproves a rule expanding certification and labeling for the DOE's conservation standards program.

  • H.J. Res. 61: disapproves an EPA rule establishing new emissions standards for rubber tire manufacturing.
  • H.J. Res. 75: disapproves a DOE rule imposing new or amended energy efficiency standards for commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers.
  • S.J. Res. 18: disapproves a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule placing price cap limitations on overdraft fees, ensuring overdraft services remain accessible for American consumers.

  • S.J. Res. 28: disapproves a CFPB rule providing the agency more oversight power over non-bank entities that complete 50 million digital transactions a year.

 

Federal Rule Repeals Awaiting Senate Passage

  • H.J. Res. 60: disapproves a Department of the Interior rule prohibiting use of off-road vehicles and street-legal ATVs on approximately 24 miles of park roads in the Glen Canyon Recreation Area.
  • H.J. Res. 78: disapproves a United States Fish and Wildlife Service rule listing the longfin smelt as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
  • H.J. Res. 87: disapproves the EPA’s approval of California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule forcing truck makers to sell zero-emission trucks.
  • H.J. Res. 88: disapproves the EPA waiver allowing California’s burdensome Advanced Clean Cars II emissions rule.
  • H.J. Res. 89: disapproves an EPA rule granting California the ability to implement its most recent nitrogen oxide engine emission standards.

 

BACKGROUND

The number of pages in the Federal Register has exploded from 10,000 in 1950 to roughly 200,000 in 2023. The Biden administration issued a staggering 1,406 federal agency rules from August 16, 2024, to January 20, 2025.

 

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) provides an expedited process by which Congress may disapprove executive branch agency rules. Under the CRA, Congress may disapprove an agency-issued rule if a joint resolution of disapproval is introduced within 60 congressional session/legislative days of the rule’s publication in the Federal Register and receipt by Congress (lookback period). 

 

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Issues: Congress Economy