Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is strongly urging the 119th Congress to pass the “Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny” (REINS) Act to rein in the unelected bureaucrats from Executive agencies whose rules are being treated as laws.

The Act would require that any major rule proposed by executive agencies (those costing over $100 million annually) would have to be approved by Congress before going into effect.

It may seem like a technical fix but Lee argues that the REINS Act seeks to prevent the loss of our freedom.

Currently, the American people labor under sweeping rules handed down by unelected, unaccountable administrative state bureaucrats that impact nearly every area of our lives from energy policy to healthcare.

In an effort to avoid accountability that could come back to bite its members at election time, Congress has allowed federal agencies to exercise legislative power in how they implement rules that have the weight of law but that lack accountability to American voters.

Entrepreneur Joe Portman asks, in a post on X, why does Congress exist if it refuses to govern?

Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) echoes Sen. Lee’s urgency to restore constitutional balance to the federal government and to ensure than Congress is doing its job.

Joe Portman notes that returning accountability to those whom the Constitution vests with lawmaking authority would bring needed transparency and accountability and restore the checks and balances that make the U.S. a Constitutional Republic rather than a bureaucratic oligarchy.