The Consumer Federation of America joined a sign-on letter strongly opposing the inclusion of any language mentioning or similar to the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, H.R. 142/ S. 485 in a Budget Reconciliation bill.

The REINS Act represents one of the most radical threats in generations to our government’s ability to protect the public from harm. The bill’s clear aim is to halt the implementation of critical new public health and safety safeguards, financial reforms, and worker protections – making industry even less accountable to the public. It would do nothing to improve protections for the American public but instead would benefit only those corporations that wish to game the system and evade safety standards.

Under the REINS Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and our other protector agencies could not enforce a “major” rule – a rule with a large economic impact – unless both houses of Congress affirmatively approved it, with no alterations, within a 70-day window. It would stop the most important rules, including the substantial number of non-controversial rules agencies produce every year, from being finalized.