Government Oversight

Senate Republicans have put forward legislation that would require the Obama administration to live up to its own proposal to ensure that new federal regulations don't unnecessarily stifle economic growth.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) proposed the Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act, S. 191, on Thursday with 32 GOP co-sponsors. Roberts said his bill would "put the power of law behind the President's widely touted, but largely ignored, Executive Order directing federal agencies to review their regulations ensuring they cause no harm to the economy or job creation."

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Wednesday said he and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are putting forward legislation that would cut the salaries of the two National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members who were recess-appointed last year.

Blunt said this step needs to be taken in the wake of last week's Appeals Court ruling that said Sharon Block and Richard Griffin were not appointed to their posts consistent with the Constitution. Obama recess appointed the two officials, but at a time when the Senate was not in a recess.

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) said Wednesday that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) should not be allowed to ignore a court ruling that two of its board members were appointed illegally, and said he could not imagine taking this position as a former Cabinet member.

"As a former member of the Cabinet, it never occurred to me that I had the right to ignore court decisions." he said on the Senate floor. "I can't imagine." 

Johanns was President George W. Bush's Secretary of Agriculture.

Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder why he is “targeting” oil and gas companies by prosecuting them for the unintentional death of birds.

The senators said on the Senate floor Wednesday that they sent Holder a letter asking him why he is prosecuting oil and gas companies for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) by killing birds, yet he is not going after wind energy companies.

“This is not even handed enforcement of the law,” Vitter said. “What that is, is targeting one type of energy producer.”

A group of Democratic senators came to the floor Wednesday to urge the passage of a bill that would help women fight for equal pay.

Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Mark Begich (Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.) called for the Senate to take up the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would require businesses to show the range of compensation for all positions, allowing women to see if they are on the lower end of the pay scale. Employers would also not be able to retaliate against employees for discussing how much they make with coworkers.

"Mr. President, this is incorrect," the Iowa Republican said Tuesday. "The Constitution only limits actions of government, not individuals."

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Monday called on two of the three board members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to resign immediately in the wake of an appeals court ruling that said President Obama appointed them to that position illegally last year.

"I'm here today to call for Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, the two members of the National Labor Relations Board who were unconstitutionally appointed by the President ... to resign their positions," Alexander said on the Senate floor.

Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and more than 100 other House Republicans want another shot at giving Congress a say over major Executive Branch regulations that have a $100 million impact on the economy.

These members proposed a new version of the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act on Wednesday. The REINS Act was one of the GOP leadership's high-priority bills in the last Congress, and it passed in a December 2011 vote that saw every Republican support it along with four Democrats.

On the same day the House passed a bill to withhold congressional pay unless a budget is passed, two others were proposed that would significantly cut member pay.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) on Wednesday proposed legislation that would cut the annual rates of pay for all members of Congress by 20 percent. Her bill, H.R. 396, would also prohibit pay increases unless the federal government did not run a budget deficit in the prior year.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Wednesday that he’s reintroduced his voting rights bill that would incentivize states to assist voters who don’t speak English, among other things.

Coons first introduced the Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Voting Act after the November election, but no action was taken on the bill, so he's reintroduced it in the 113th Congress.