Congressional Review Act Tracker for the 119th Congress

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows Congress to strike down regulations issued by federal agencies. One of the most unique aspects of the CRA is that – for a limited window – the Senate can take up these resolutions under an expedited process, bypassing the usual filibuster threshold of 60 votes and passing a resolution of disapproval by a simple majority. If a resolution of disapproval pertaining to a rule is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president, the rule becomes void and the agency that issued the rule cannot issue a rule in “substantially the same form” in the future unless subsequently and specifically authorized by Congress.

Due to the CRA’s basic structure, however, it has seldom been used. Two significant hurdles have limited its successful usage historically. First, presidents are highly unlikely to sign a disapproval resolution of a rule their administration issued. Second, Congress must typically be under the full control of the party opposite the administration that issued the rule. The American Action Forum (AAF) CRA Tracker for the 117th and 118th Congresses documented myriad examples of this dynamic.

As a result of these two hurdles, successful resolutions of disapproval typically only occur when the White House changes hands to a different party and the incoming president’s party controls both chambers of Congress – such as was the case in the early part of President Trump’s first term under Republican control and during the beginning of the Biden Administration in 2021. This “trifecta” phenomenon once again presents itself in 2025.

The reason for these successful waves of CRA action lies in the other key aspect of the law: the “look-back” window. Under this provision, final rules posted within the last 60 legislative days of the preceding Congress are open to review under the law’s expedited process. For the current Congress, this means that Biden Administration rules promulgated from August 16, 2024 onward are vulnerable to CRA consideration.

Given that this Republican “trifecta” is already well-versed in the ways of the CRA, one can expect to see the law deployed in aggressive fashion over the coming months. This AAF Tracker will build on the example of prior iterations to provide the public with a regularly updated resource to follow these developments.

CURRENT CONGRESS TOPLINE STATISTICS

• Number of Rules Addressed: 72 (52 from Biden; 20 from Trump)
• Total Costs From Rules Addressed: $137.1 Billion ($138 billion from Biden; $0.9 billion in cost reductions from Trump)
• Number of Resolutions Passed by House: 23
• Number of Resolutions Passed by Senate: 24
• Number of Resolutions Passed Into Law: 22