The House Judiciary Committee released a draft of their budget reconciliation bill on April 27, which included major provisions from the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act), and the markup version voted out April 30th by a 23-17 margin retained those provisions. The final omnibus bill may differ from this draft version once this bill advances to the next step in the budget reconciliation process.
The House Budget Committee markup on the omnibus budget reconciliation bill was scheduled for Friday, May 16. See below for more information on the budget reconciliation process.
The provisions related to REINS are located under ‘Subtitle B—Regulatory Matters’ in the April 28 draft, and include:
- requirements for agency reports on certain proposed agency actions,
- provisions that task the Comptroller General with determining if agency actions are major rules and requirements for the Comptroller reports on these findings,
- a provision requiring major rules that increase revenues to be approved by a joint resolution of approval before they can take effect,
- provisions allowing review of past agency rules, similarly to the Congressional Review Act, and
- provisions for the review of agency rules currently in effect.
What is the REINS Act?
The REINS Act is a legislative proposal designed to increase congressional oversight of federal agency rulemaking and would require legislative pre-approval of major agency rules before these regulations can take effect. The REINS Act would amend the existing Congressional Review Act, which allows review and removal of major rules after they are implemented.
Versions of the REINS Act have been introduced in every Congress since 2009. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed several versions of the bill, but it has not gained approval in the Senate.
The bill was reintroduced in the second session of the 118th Congress with four additional provisions related to defense for individuals, the right to sue, the application of REINS provisions on agency guidance, and exemptions for deregulatory actions. The 2024 version of the bill proposed the first changes to the REINS Act in 15 years. Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R), a cosponsor of the 2024 REINS Act, reintroduced the act on January 3, 2025, in the 119th United States Congress. The 2025 version of the bill did not contain the new provisions introduced in 2024.
To track the progress of bills at the federal and state level with REINS-style provisions, visit Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Legislation Tracker.
How does the Budget Reconciliation work?
Budget resolutions are resolutions that broadly outline spending priorities for a reconciliation bill.
The Senate voted 51-48 to adopt an amended version of H.Con.Res.14 on April 5, 2025. The resolution contained reconciliation instructions or directives. On April 10, the House voted to adopt the Senate-amended version of HCon.Res.14, completing the first step in the budget resolution process.
Budget reconciliation begins with reconciliation directives included in a budget resolution. These directives instruct certain committees to draft legislation with a specified budgetary impact. Click here to read more about the specific reconciliation directives given to each committee in 2025. The House Judiciary Committee’s scope includes administrative practice and procedure.
These committees then meet to amend and pass the legislation that complies with the reconciliation directives.
After the committees pass their bills out of committee, the Budget Committees of the House and Senate compile these bills into omnibus budget reconciliation bills. Eleven House committees and ten Senate committees received reconciliation directives in the final budget resolution for 2025. These omnibus bills will then be debated on the floors of both chambers, and if the House and Senate pass the same version of the bill, it is sent to the president to be signed or vetoed.
Reconciliation bills are unique in the Senate because they can be moved to a floor vote and passed by a simple majority, bypassing the 60% cloture requirement. This is because they are not subject to the filibuster due to the 20-hour time limit on floor debate and the requirement that any proposed amendments be relevant.
The reconciliation process does not affect procedures in the House as much as in the Senate because the House does not have the 60% vote requirement for ending debate and bringing a bill to the floor for a vote as the Senate does. During the consideration of reconciliation bills, as with other significant legislation, the House Rules Committee usually sets limitations for debate and amendments.
Where is the fight?
Supporters argue that the REINS Act would restore the separation of powers, make Congress accountable for regulatory decisions, and increase transparency in the rulemaking process.
Opponents contend that the act could hinder the efficiency of regulatory agencies, delay necessary regulations, and undermine agencies’ expertise in topics where Congress lacks detailed knowledge. They also argue that it would lead to increased political gridlock.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R): “For those who say it would make a radical change, a radical departure from the status quo of rulemaking, I’d say, ‘Thank heaven above for that.’”
Minority whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D): “It would be a war on regulations. To take that authority away from the executive branch would be a serious mistake.”
In addition to debate about whether the REINS Act should be enacted at all, there is debate as to whether or not it will be allowed to be included in the reconciliation package. The provisions could be struck if a point of order is raised against them under the Byrd Rule.
Senator Cammack is quoted as saying: “The trick with this is to get it through the Byrd bath.” and “…it really was just about rearranging the language to make it so that it could survive the Byrd tests.”
Others are less optimistic, such as Sen. Todd Young (R), who said: “I don’t know if it would survive Byrd, but I support the effort.”
What is the Byrd Rule/Byrd Bath?
Because budget reconciliation is supposed to be used to enact changes in spending, revenues, or the debt limit, the Byrd Rule, found in 2 U.S. Code § 644, provides senators with a mechanism for enforcing this. If any senators believe provisions in the reconciliation omnibus bill or proposed amendments to the bill are extraneous to the reconciliation directives, they can raise a point of order under the Byrd Rule.
A point of order under the Byrd Rule is a motion to delete the specified provision before consideration is resumed. The Vice President, as the presiding officer of the Senate, rules on Byrd Rule points of order. The Senate Parliamentarian advises the Vice President on Byrd Rule points of order.
Through what is referred to as the Byrd Bath, the Senate Parliamentarian can also preemptively advise committees and legislators on the content of reconciliation bills and whether they are likely to meet the requirements of the Byrd Rule before the legislation comes to the floor.
In the past, the most common reasons provisions have been struck from budget reconciliation bills under the Byrd Rule are:
- that they created no change in budgetary outlays or revenues,
- that their budgetary changes were merely incidental to their non-budgetary components, and
- that the proposed legislation was outside of the committee’s jurisdiction.
What happens next?
Though the budget reconciliation bill has no technical due date, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (HR 1968) only funds the federal government through September 30 of this year. At that point, Congress would have to pass the budget reconciliation bill or another continuing resolution to fund the Federal government.
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