The House approved legislation on Tuesday that would require the White House to publish the inflationary effects of all major executive orders.
The House voted 272-148 to pass the Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation (REIN IN) Inflation Act. The law would mandate that the Biden administration publish the projected inflationary fallout of executive actions before enacting them.
Specifically, it dictates that the Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of Management and Budget must prepare a report for any executive action with an estimated economic effect of at least $1 billion.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) sponsored the legislation alongside House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC).
INFLATION ROSE 5.4% IN JANUARY, ACCORDING TO KEY GAUGE WATCHED BY FED
“In Joe Biden’s first year in office alone, he issued more executive orders than any president in my lifetime, costing taxpayers more than one trillion dollars,” said Stefanik during remarks this week ahead of the vote. “From canceling the Keystone XL pipeline to pushing the out-of-touch and costly ‘Green New Deal’ regulations, it’s past time for Joe Biden to address the price tag of his costly executive orders.”
“The REIN IN Inflation Act will expose Joe Biden and demand transparency for the American people by revealing just how much Biden’s executive orders are costing hardworking families,” she added.
Inflation has been running high for nearly two years, making life more unaffordable for families. Annual inflation, as gauged by the consumer price index, peaked at over 9% last summer, and while it has since fallen, it is still magnitudes higher than is healthy for the economy.
While there are several factors that caused inflation to push beyond the Federal Reserve’s preferred 2% level, Republicans have highlighted the rash of spending that Biden and Democrats have approved since he was sworn into office.
Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which garnered no Republican support, was blamed in part for infusing the economy with money and driving up demand. It is worth noting that stimulus spending not only under Biden but also under former President Donald Trump has been tied to inflation.
The REIN IN Inflation Act was introduced last Congress but is set to pass now that Republicans have taken control of the House. The legislation’s future is less certain in the Senate, in which Democrats hold a slight edge. Democrats can’t manage to have a single defection because of Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) absence due to his hospitalization.
The bill comes the same week that another piece of economic legislation might soon become Biden’s first presidential veto.
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The House voted on Tuesday to repeal a Labor Department rule that allows retirement plan managers to weigh environmental and social matters when making investments. The rule Republicans are attempting to roll back was announced by the Department of Labor last year and would allow, though not require, fiduciaries to weigh ESG factors when making investment decisions for U.S. retirement accounts.
If the anti-ESG legislation passes the Senate, in which it has the support of at least one Democratic senator (Joe Manchin of West Virginia), the White House has indicated that Biden will veto it.