WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 21: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) gives an opening statement before U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies at a House Judiciary Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on October 21, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
A House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law debate a major bill that could threaten the checks and balances within the federal government.
On Wednesday, the subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the “Administrative Procedure Act.” They heard from three professors on the power of government branches, Congress and federal agencies.
This bill aims to promote transparency, provide standards and restate the law of judicial review when it comes to setting regulations and policy making. Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson (R) commented on what he said is a trend within the Biden administration and underscored the importance of getting this bill right.
“There is a theme. The theme is the continued abuse by the executive branch of our constitutional norms…that the executive branch is doing far beyond what is the scope of what is designed to do. And the agency problem is a big part of that,” said Johnson.
He said overregulation harms individuals, families, small businesses and the economy.
“Federal agencies are now wielding just such a tremendous amount of power that unelected bureaucrats abuse it all the time. They are unelected, they’re unaccountable, and that kind of power was never anticipated by the founders of this country,” said the Republican.
Johnson also pointed out the fact that the Biden administration has revoked a number of Trump-era steps to check the administrative state and instead aims to expand it, allowing the administrative state to act with impunity. Additionally, Rep. Jim Jordan (R) also slammed Democrat attempts to hand more power over to the bureaucratic state.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) December 1, 2021
Jordan, who is a ranking member on the subcommittee, engaged in an impassioned debate with one of the professors brought to the hearing as a witness. He asserted the Democrats’ bill intends to hand more power off to non-elected bureaucrats and out of the hands of Congress.
“The people who make decisions and impact small business owners, American…I mean just every single day the regulatory state, the bureaucratic state runs this country and it is a huge problem. It’s the biggest threat to liberty I think we see, and I haven’t seen the bill that the chairman is introducing, but my gut tells me it probably moves in the direction that their witnesses wants it to go, which is more power to the bureaucratic state,” stated Jordan.
Jordan went on to say that the Judiciary Committee is meant to uphold the Constitution. He noted reducing the number of checks and balances within the federal government, as he says this bill would do, does the opposite.
Source: One America News Network
