Washington, D.C. – House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) spoke at the Hoover Institution this morning about why the House is tackling regulatory reform first to help our economy, restore our Constitution, and empower the people.
Full video of the event can be viewed here.
On how regulatory reform empowers the people:
“With Article I of the constitution, we started this country with three co-equal branches. They are no longer co-equal, and that’s really a threat to the economy, to the Constitution, and to the people.… I’m a firm believer that structure dictates behavior. So you have to get the structure right otherwise you’ll get the same behavior and outcome as it goes forward. So if you watched on the floor, right now we’re populating the committees, but we’re still moving legislation on the floor. And what did we focus on first? Article I. Midnight Rules [Act]. Just since Trump got elected in November to January 5th, this Administration has proposed 145 new regulations, $16 billion worth. I think 35 of them are major rulings. The definition of a major ruling is it costs $100 million. And if you look from the CBO report, they have enacted 82 new major rulings every single year [on average] for the last five years. That all perpetuates upon itself….
“We can change the structural debate of Washington. Midnight Rule, REINS Act—you all know the REINS Act? No major rule can go into effect without a vote the House and Senate. Why? Because the people then get a voice. Do the people have any voice when it comes to the bureaucrats? Even when elections are held, they can’t fire them. If somebody in the VA lets a veteran die or the EPA goes and takes your private property. Where is the check and balance in that scenario?”
On when the bureaucracy refused to enforce the JOBS Act:
“What frustrates me is when we create a structure that allows us to lead, we had bureaucracy stop it. And you had no ability to change that. Because you had your elected officials who went through the structure, voted, passed [the JOBS Act]—not easy to pass, but passed it overwhelmingly—signed by the President, and a bureaucrat decided what’s better for America in their view. And that was wrong. And that’s why I go back to the core of the three pillars. And if you want to drain the swamp, it’s the bureaucracy in America that is going against the republic and the voice of the people that needs to be drained to unshackle and bring growth, protect our constitution, and really, empower the people.”