[Badger52]

Link at Breitbart here.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) announced Monday he will use the Congressional Review Act against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF’s) pistol/stabilizer brace rule.

Breitbart News reported that the ATF’s pistol/stabilizer brace rule was finalized January 13, 2023, and that the agency is giving owners of pistols with said braces 120 days to register the firearms, once the rule appears in the Federal Registry.

On January 14, 2023, Breitbart News noted that the Congressional Review Act offered an avenue by which Congress could block the ATF’s rule.

Rep. Clyde and his colleagues are ready to use the Congressional Review Act and other means to stop the rule from turning millions of law-abiding gun owners into criminals.

Clyde spoke on the House floor Monday, saying:

Next week, I will reintroduce the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act, or the SHORT Act, to repeal elements of the National Firearms Act, thereby prohibiting the ATF from registering and banning pistols with stabilizing braces. Additionally, as soon as the ATF’s unlawful rule is published to the Federal Register, I will introduce a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, to override the Biden administration’s unlawful overreach.

Gun owners, hear me loud and clear:

We’re fighting for you and your Second Amendment freedoms—and we will never give up. pic.twitter.com/0LfUslyEwM

— Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) January 30, 2023

The Brookings Institute summarizes the Congressional Review Act:

Passed as part of the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996, the Congressional Review Act creates a streamlined procedure by which Congress can disapprove and thereby nullify regulations promulgated by various federal government agencies. The Congressional Review Act quires that all rules be reported to Congress. Upon receiving that report, Congress then has 60 legislative working days (which is generally a much longer period than 60 calendar days) to introduce a special joint resolution of disapproval of the rule.

That resolution can be discharged from committee and can avoid the Senate’s filibuster, thereby empowering Congress to contend with the administrative state’s vast rulemaking powers on something closer to an equal footing.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office explains the Congressional Review Act thusly: “The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to review ‘major’ rules issued by federal agencies before the rules take effect. Congress may also disapprove new rules, resulting in the rules having no force or effect.”

It would be nice if this F-Troop overreach were mitigated to save $$$ going to lawyers to take this stupidity to SCOTUS. They have plenty of other things to do.