Goodlatte, Marino, and Ratcliffe Praise Committee Passage of Bill to Combat Runaway Regulations

Washington, D.C.— House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marino (R-Pa.), and House Judiciary Committee member John L. Ratcliffe (R-Texas) praised today’s House Judiciary Committee approval of the “Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA) of 2016” (H.R. 4768) by a vote of 12-8. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984), federal courts have rarely questioned federal regulatory agencies’ interpretations of the statutes passed by Congress. This has emboldened federal bureaucrats to overreach and exceed the limits placed in the law by Congress when issuing regulations. SOPRA would restore the proper separation of powers by requiring federal courts to once again carefully scrutinize agencies’ interpretations and decisions regarding the statutes passed by Congress. This renewed judicial oversight will put regulatory agencies on notice that bureaucrats will no longer receive the rubber stamp on their overreaches. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Chairman Tom Marino (R-Pa.), and House Judiciary Committee member John L. Ratcliffe (R-Texas) issued the following statements: Chairman Goodlatte: "Today's federal administrative state is an institution unforeseen by the Framers of our Constitution that has turned into a runaway regulatory state. As a result, our system of checks and balances is tipping away from the legislative and judicial branches, and toward a vast, overreaching executive branch. The precedent set by Chevron has been a catalyst for this imbalance in our system of government, and SOPRA will tip the scales back to the way our Framers intended.” Subcommittee Chairman Marino: “In recent years, we have seen an unnecessary increase in federal regulations which in turn has created a disproportionally powerful executive branch. SOPRA will address the uncertainty created by the Chevron decision and reassert equality between the three branches of government. Our legislation will restore the good governance principles expressly delineated in the Constitution and ensure accountability in our government.” Rep. John Ratcliffe: “At a young age, we’re taught in school that our Founding Fathers established three, co-equal branches of government that carefully balance one another. But today, this concept is far from reality. Instead, our government is plagued with an out-of-control administrative state, and Americans are seeing the overreach from this constitutional imbalance impact nearly every aspect of their lives. “The ‘Separation of Powers Restoration Act’ stops the dangerous practice of allowing unelected bureaucrats to grade their own papers, shifting the balance of power back to what is clearly defined in the Constitution. I’d like to thank Chairman Goodlatte for giving me the opportunity to introduce this vital legislation, and I am hopeful my colleagues will support its passage if it is brought up in the full House of Representatives.” Click here to learn more about today’s markup. ###