Mike Lee Questions OMB Nominee Dan Bishop About His Opinions On The REINS Act

3 days ago

At a Senate Budget Committee hearing earlier this month, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) questioned OMB nominee Dan Bishop about the REINS Act.

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Transcript

00:00you and so glad that you're willing to stand for this nomination, be considered for confirmation.

00:07As you know, the administrative state has been crushing the American people for some time.

00:12This is often perceived as a soft exercise of power, but the way it's experienced by

00:18the American people is anything but soft. You know, in 2024 alone, our administrative

00:26agencies promulgated enough regulations that together they produced a combined net economic

00:32impact of about $1.5 trillion. So you add that to where the federal regulations promulgated prior

00:43to 2024 stood, which estimates vary wildly, but a lot of people have estimated those regulations

00:50in effect previous to that time as being somewhere in the range of maybe $2.5 to $3 trillion.

00:55We're now looking at a federal regulatory system that imposes costs that more or less rival that

01:03which we spend on federal income tax as an entire country. These are laws made by men and women who

01:11as well-educated, well-intentioned, hardworking, highly trained as they might be, don't work for

01:16the American people. They're lawmakers who are never elected. Now, my copy of the Constitution

01:20in Article I, Section 1 and in Article I, Section 7 makes clear you cannot make a federal law

01:26unless you follow the formula, and the formula goes something like this. You got to pass the

01:29bill in the House, and you got to pass it in the Senate. Most of the time it doesn't matter what

01:33order unless you're dealing with a revenue bill, but you got to pass the same text in both houses

01:37and then present it to the president who may sign it, veto it, or acquiesce to it. At the conclusion

01:43of that process, the legislative bell has been rung. Then and only then may you make a new federal

01:48law or change an existing federal law. But the means by which Congress has, since the late 1930s,

01:54been deferring, been delegating this lawmaking power has completely reversed the equation,

01:59such that the American people are now subject to this Byzantine labyrinth of federal regulations.

02:05And, you know, it brings to fulfillment a warning made by James Madison in Federalist 62,

02:11who said, in effect, it will be of little avail to the American people that their laws may be

02:15written by men of their own choosing if those laws be so voluminous, complex, and ever-changing

02:19that they can't be read and understood, anticipated from one day to the next as to what the law

02:24actually requires. Only, it's much worse than James Madison's warning, because it's not just

02:30that they're ever-changing, voluminous, and complex, such that you can't know what's happening.

02:35They're not even written by men and women of our own choosing. Now, in my view, this calls out for

02:41aggressive reforms, including, but not limited to, but definitely including the Reins Act,

02:46regulations from the executive in need of scrutiny. The Reins Act would require

02:51essentially what Article I, Section 7 already compels us to do, which is, before you create

02:56a new affirmative legal obligation applicable to the public, enforceable on the public,

03:01at the risk of losing life, liberty, or property for failure to comply, that you've got to run

03:07these through the legislative formula prescribed by Article I, Section 7. Mr. Bishop, I'd like to

03:12know your views on the Reins Act and how the White House and Congress can work together

03:19on regulatory reform more broadly. Thank you, Senator, for the question. And I will say that

03:24anybody who hasn't had the experience needs to come sit with you in your office where you see

03:29that massive, I guess they call it a bookshelf, filled floor to ceiling, you know, floor to top

03:34with paper that represents the regulatory output last year, and then see what Congress passed as a

03:40small, small stack on top. And that, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything that, in fact, took me by

03:46surprise when I met with you, that it so well captures how out of control the regulatory state's,

03:53you know, massive output of law is. And yet those were regulations. I mean, on top of that, you got

03:59guidance and unofficial statements that get out on websites, all of which can be the source of

04:05enforcement by those self-same agencies in which they make the law. They act as the

04:10judge and jury also for everybody out in the society. I guess I'd say a couple things,

04:16Senator. President Trump has, as you know, his own plans to reform the regulatory state. He's

04:26talked about the take 10 regulations down for every one that comes along. The Office of

04:31Information and Regulatory Affairs, OIRA at OMB, will be at the heart of that effort, and I look

04:36forward to participating very much in that. As a member of Congress, I was very much in support of

04:42the REINS Act. In fact, we tried to do something similar in North Carolina. We did have a great

04:47regulatory reform agenda that was very successful in North Carolina, so I know it can be done.

04:53I think REINS has great merit. But, of course, what the President's priorities are

04:59where I'll focus as Deputy Director of OMB. I appreciate that, Mr. Bishop. I see my time's

05:05expired. I'll add here just that I, too, cheered last night when President Trump talked about

05:11one in, 10 out. That's fantastic. That buys us food for a day or at least four years.

05:17In order to have a sustainable supply of liberty, we need legislative reform, permanent structural

05:24reform. And in my view, the best way to make that happen, maybe the only way to make it happen,

05:28is to attach it to a must-pass vehicle. I think the most fitting pairing would probably be a

05:36debt ceiling bill. I believe Congress should not enact legislation suspending or increasing the

05:43debt ceiling without attaching the REINS Act, and I hope that you and the White House will

05:48support that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator. Senator Van Hollen.

Mike Lee Questions OMB Nominee Dan Bishop About His Opinions On The REINS Act

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