WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) radical climate disclosure rule which would bury public companies in paperwork, raise costs for consumers and stifle economic opportunity.

“This burdensome rule is another backdoor attempt to enforce radical climate policies that cannot pass Congress because of their clearly harmful consequences for our economy and American workers. The Biden administration and the SEC must not willfully sacrifice productivity, affordability and commonsense that businesses and consumers need and deserve. I’m proud to join Sen. Scott and our colleagues to block this unreasonable mandate,” Boozman said. 

“The SEC’s final climate disclosure rule threatens economic opportunity across the country, and it must be overturned. Over and over again, SEC Chair Gensler has disregarded the real-world impacts of his aggressive regulatory agenda in his dogged pursuit of left-wing political priorities. This rule is no exception. The SEC’s mission is to regulate our capital markets and ensure all Americans can safely share in their economic success – not to force a partisan climate agenda on American businesses. This rule is federal overreach at its worst, and the SEC should stay in its lane,” said Scott. 

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Kennedy (R-LA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Katie Britt (R-AL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-MT), Jim Risch (R-IN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Hoeven (R-ND), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) also signed onto the CRA.

Click here for a one-pager on the CRA.

 

BACKGROUND

Under Chair Gensler, the SEC has pursued one of the most aggressive regulatory agendas in the agency’s history – with the agency on track to propose and finalize over 60 rules with limited public comment periods and inadequate cost-benefit analyses.

Boozman has called on the SEC Office of Inspector General to investigate the agency’s rulemaking process. The senator also included language in FY24 appropriations legislation that encourages the SEC to provide more time for public input on rulemakings and ensures the agency’s rules incorporate robust economic analysis.

A CRA resolution is a tool used by Congress to eliminate onerous regulations imposed by the executive branch through an expedited procedure for consideration in the Senate. A joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA is afforded special privileges that bypass normal Senate rules and allow for a vote on the Senate floor. When a CRA resolution is approved by a simple majority in both chambers of Congress and signed by the president – or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto – the rule is invalidated.