GOP Targets Gas Stove Rules, Administrative State Power

House Republicans are taking steps to exert authority over the administrative state after repeatedly failing to overturn Biden administration regulations in existing legislation. During a June 5 Rules Committee hearing, lawmakers discussed a series of bills intended to reach those ends.

“The Constitution articulates where the laws are made. It’s here in Congress,” said Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) in his opening remarks.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), by contrast, said the proposals show that the House Republican majority “once again prioritizes right-wing culture wars over the American people.”

Two of the four bills are specifically concerned with regulatory efforts directed at gas stoves. In recent months, both the Department of Energy and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have moved on those appliances.

Stove Wars

• Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act – would prevent the CPSC from banning or substantially raising the price of gas stoves.
• Save Our Stoves Act – would keep the Department of Energy from implementing a proposed energy efficiency rule for gas stoves.

Concerns about a ban were ignited in part by comments from CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr., to Bloomberg News in January.

“This is a hidden hazard. Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” he said.

Fears of a federal gas stove ban are also influenced by emerging restrictions at the state and local levels.

The hearing also considered two bills meant to increase oversight of the administrative state.

REINS on Administrative State

• REINS Act – would require Congress to approve major regulations from agencies before they could take effect.
• Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2023 (SOPRA) – would subject proposed regulations to judicial scrutiny without deferring to the agency’s own internal review process.

“Congress already has multiple tools to shape agency rulemaking,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.).

Yet, Republicans argued that recent history shows the ineffectiveness of those tools.

“Just in the 118th Congress, both the House and the Senate passed legislation to overturn the unlawful WOTUS [Waters of the United States] rule as issued by the EPA, to overturn the tariff repeal on solar panels made in China, and to overturn the radical ESG requirements issued by federal agencies. Yet each of those times, the President of the United States vetoed the actions of the House of Representatives and the Senate,” said Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.).