Without holding a single hearing, Lieberman’s committee wants to pass the “Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act of 2012” which strips the independence of a raft of federal agencies: Everything from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency and National Labor Relations Board.
Among its many provisions, the law would require each of the agencies that Congress quite deliberately established as independent to submit all proposed rules to The White House for “vetting” before they could be published. According to a report buried on a back page of Tuesday’s New York Times,, the bill would “introduce delays to an already slow process, and would give banks and businesses yet another place to lobby for favorable treatment.”
The Times also notes correctly that bad reviews from The White House would enable industry groups to mount legal challenges to rules that are eventually put in place.
Lieberman’s bill to defang regulatory agencies has bi-partisan support in the committee – perhaps not entirely surprising given that its Republican members include Tom Coburn, outgoing Senator Scott Brown, John McCain and Rand Paul. But Carl Levin also is a member as is Hawaii’s Daniel Akaka yet they are supporting the measure, as well.
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