About the bill
President Obama’s administration issued a record number of regulations during the lame duck sessionafter the election. Known as “midnight rules,” these actions drew the ire of Republicans who considered them liberal executive overreach during the end of a presidency whose party had just been voted out of office. A bill passed by the House could make it much easier for Congress to overturn these regulations.
###What the bill does
The Midnight Rules Relief Act, H.R. 21 and S. 34, would allow Congress to overturn any presidential or executive branch regulation finalized within the final 60 days of an administration. In practice, of course, this for the time being means the Obama Administration. Under current law, Congress can only overturn one regulation at a time, but this bill would …
Sponsor and status
115th Congress (2017–2019)
This bill was introduced on May 17, 2017, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
6 Cosponsors (6 Republicans)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Strange steps up pressure on bloated regulatory state”
—
Sen. Luther Strange [R-AL, 2017-2017]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jun 23, 2017
“standing at albany medical center, Schumer urges administration to reverse dramatic cut to upstate new york’s hospitals; says cuts put communities in jeopardy of losing critical health care services”
—
Sen. Charles “Chuck” Schumer [D-NY]
on Oct 29, 2018
“Kaptur: $249,000 to Bay Point Conservation in Ottawa County”
—
Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D-OH9]
on Apr 13, 2018
History
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Nov 29, 2016
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Earlier Version —
Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, S. 3483 (114th). |
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Jan 4, 2017
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Companion Bill —
Passed House (Senate next)
This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 21 (115th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on S. 34 (115th). |
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Jan 5, 2017
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Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
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Mar 15, 2017
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Considered by Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
A committee held a hearing or business meeting about the bill.
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May 17, 2017
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Ordered Reported
A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee. |
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Oct 5, 2017
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Reported by Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions. |
S. 34 (115th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number S. 34. This is the one from the 115th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 115th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 3, 2019. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
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“S. 34 — 115th Congress: Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2017.” www.GovTrack.us. 2017. August 17, 2022 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s34>
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Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
