# Understanding the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2021

This bill is about making it easier for Congress to block multiple rules that a president issues right before leaving office. Here's what's actually happening: when a president's term is ending, they often rush to finalize new regulations—things like environmental rules, workplace safety standards, or healthcare policies. These are sometimes called "midnight rules" because they're pushed through at the last minute. The bill changes the process for Congress to reject these rules by allowing them to bundle multiple rules together into a single vote, rather than voting on each one separately.

Right now, if Congress wants to disapprove of a rule, they have to go through a formal process for each individual rule, which takes time and requires separate votes. This bill streamlines that by saying that if multiple rules were all submitted during the final year of a president's term, Congress can package them together in one resolution and vote them all down at once. Think of it like combining several items on a shopping list instead of checking them out one at a time.

The practical effect is that Congress could more quickly and easily reject a batch of last-minute regulations they disagree with. This could matter to you depending on what those rules are—if they're environmental protections you support, you might see them disappear faster. If they're business regulations you think are burdensome, you might see them blocked more easily. The bill essentially gives Congress a faster tool to push back against what they view as executive overreach during the final days of a presidency, but it doesn't change which rules Congress can reject—it just makes the rejection process more efficient when multiple rules are involved.

Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2021

Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5]

Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2021This bill allows Congress to disapprove multiple regulations under one joint resolution of disapproval if the regulations were submitted for review during a portion of the final year of a President's term.Under current law, the Congressional Review Act generally&nbsp;provides for a period of additional review during the succeeding Congress for regulations that were submitted during the last 60 legislative days of the prior Congress. However, each joint resolution may disapprove of only one regulation.