The Congressional Review Act (CRA), is a law that was enacted by the United States Congress as section 251 of the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 ((Pub.L. 104–121), also known as the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA)). The law empowers Congress to review, by means of an expedited legislative process, new federal regulations issued by government agencies and, by passage of a joint resolution, to overrule a regulation. Congress is given 60 legislative days to disapprove, after which the rule will go into effect. Because legislative sessions during the 114th Congress often ended before Congress had sixty legislative days, the 115th Congress can target rules passed by the Obama administration as far back as May 2016. In the Senate, a joint resolution of disapproval meeting certain criteria cannot be filibustered.
For the regulation to be invalidated, the Congressional resolution of disapproval either must be signed by the President, or must be passed over the President's veto by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress.
The law requires that, as a condition precedent, an agency promulgating a covered rule must submit a report to each House of Congress and to the Comptroller General that contains a copy of the rule, a concise general statement describing the rule (including whether it is a major rule), and the proposed effective date of the rule. A covered rule cannot take effect if the report is not submitted.
The law provides a procedure for expedited consideration in the Senate. If the committee to which a joint resolution is referred has not reported it out within 20 calendar days after referral, it may be discharged from further consideration by a written petition of 30 Members of the Senate, at which point the measure is placed on the calendar, and it is in order at any time for a Senator to move to proceed to the joint resolution. If the Senate agrees to the motion to proceed, debate on the floor is limited to 10 hours and no amendments to the resolution or motions to proceed to other business are in order, and so the Senate may pass the joint resolution with a simple majority.
Joint resolutions of disapproval have included:
S.J.Res. 6, 107th Congress (2001), providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to ergonomics (became Pub.L. 107–5 on March 20, 2001);
S.J.Res. 17, 108th Congress (2003), disapproving the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to broadcast media ownership (passed Senate 55-40 on September 16, 2003; not acted on by the House);
S.J.Res. 4, 109th Congress (2005), providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Department of Agriculture relating to risk zones for introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (passed Senate 52-46 on March 3, 2005; not acted on by House);
S.J.Res. 20, 109th Congress (2005), disapproving a rule promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to delist coal and oil-direct utility units from the source category list under the Clean Air Act (failed in Senate 47-51 on September 13, 2005);
S.J.Res. 30, 111th Congress (2010), disapproval of the rule submitted by the National Mediation Board relating to representation election procedures (motion to proceed not agreed to in the Senate 43-56 on September 23, 2010);
S.J.Res. 39, 111th Congress (2010), providing for congressional disapproval of the rule relating to status as a grandfathered health plan under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (motion to proceed not agreed to in the Senate 40-59 on September 29, 2010);
S.J.Res. 36, 112th Congress (2012), providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the National Labor Relations Board relating to representation election procedures (motion to proceed not agreed to in the Senate 45-54 on April 24, 2012);
S.J.Res. 8, 114th Congress (2015), providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the National Labor Relations Board relating to representation case procedures (passed Senate 53-46 on March 4, 2015; passed House 232-186 on March 19, 2015; vetoed by President Obama through a memorandum of disapproval);
S.J.Res. 22, 114th Congress (2015), providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the definition of "waters of the United States" under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (passed Senate 53-44 on November 4, 2015; passed House 253-166 on January 13, 2016; vetoed by President Obama on January 20, 2016; motion to proceed on veto override not agreed to in the Senate 52-40 on January 21, 2016.)
H.J.Res. 38, 115th Congress (2017), nullifying the Stream Protection Rule finalized by the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on December 20, 2016. The rule addresses the impacts of surface coal mining operations on surface water, groundwater, and the productivity of mining operation sites (passed House 228-194 on February 1, 2017; passed Senate 54-45 February 2, 2017; signed by President Trump February 16, 2017).
