President Donald Trump on Tuesday repealed a transparency requirement forcing oil, gas and mining companies to disclose financial transactions with foreign governments.
"It's a big deal," Trump was quoted by White House pool reporters as saying Tuesday. "The energy jobs are coming back. Lots of people going back to work now."
The requirement was the Cardin-Lugar Anti-Corruption Provision of 2010's Dodd-Frank Act – signed by former President Barack Obama and named for former Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. The regulation was widely support from Democrats, who argued the transparency requirement could reduce instances of corruption in resource-rich countries overseas.
Lugar and Cardin wrote in a recent op-ed published by The Hill that the provision "is our most affordable and effective means to make a difference in many underdeveloped nations." "Cast it aside, and we are undoing a clear act of moral leadership, turning our back on corruption," they wrote. "This would betray our own principles and severely undercut our allies in Europe and Canada."
But many on the Republican side of the aisle argued that it created a costly and unnecessary burden on internationally focused American energy companies. Big oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. – whose former CEO Rex Tillerson is now secretary of State – were among the most vocal opponents of the rule.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc. – who was present in the White House Tuesday when Trump officially cut the red tape – later said in a statement that the provision in question "would have put American oil and natural gas companies at a disadvantage on the world stage, and actually could have threatened the safety of American workers abroad."
Ryan's statement was disseminated by his press office in an email with the subject line: "Goodbye Obama-era regulations."In drafting the bill for Trump, GOP lawmakers opted for a seldom-used legislative route that essentially fast-tracks the regulatory repeal process. By accessing provisions laid out in the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers can, among other things, expedite a resolution that requires little notice before introduction, is not subject to filibuster and requires only a simple majority of 51 votes in the Senate to pass, according to The Hill.
Prior to Trump's sign-off on Tuesday, the Congressional Review Act had been successfully used to scrap regulation only once since the act itself was passed back in 1996, according to the Harvard Law Review. In that one instance, former President George W. Bush in 2001 sunk an ergonomics rule finalized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration during former President Bill Clinton's tenure.
But regulation-skeptic Republicans have indicated they plan to use the act to push future red-tape-stripping bills in the weeks and months ahead. And with GOP control over both houses of Congress and Trump in the White House, Democrats may be limited in what they do next.
"This is the first of many Congressional Review Act bills to be signed into law by President Trump," Ryan said in his statement Tuesday. "Congressional Review Act legislation provides relief for Americans hurt by regulations rushed through at the last minute by the Obama administration."
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