The House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass a bill that could significantly shift federal regulatory authority away from the executive branch to Congress.
Lawmakers voted for the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, known as SOPRA, in a 220–211 vote. Most Republicans voted in favor of the measure, while most Democrats voted against it.
An analysis provided by the Congressional Budget Office (pdf) said the bill, HR 288, would authorize federal courts to review agency rules and “decide all relevant questions of law, including the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions and rules, without deferring to previous legal determinations by the agency.”
Under the bill, according to the analysis, “federal courts could overturn some agency decisions that they would have upheld under current law” and some of the “decisions could affect federal spending by overturning regulations that affect direct spending, revenues, and spending subject to appropriation.”…