The Midnight Rules Relief Act, approved in a largely party-line vote, broadens the authority Republicans have to overturn the blitz of regulations Biden finalized before leaving office.

Under the Congressional Review Act, each regulation can be repealed one by one with a simple majority vote in each chamber and the signature of the president. 

The “midnight rules” legislation would allow Congress to bundle those regulations into a single “resolution of disapproval,” sparing Republicans weeks of valuable floor time in the slow-moving Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), is envisioned as a way to give Congress a larger role in rejecting rules when administrations change hands. The CRA not only allows regulations to be overturned with a simple act of Congress, but it does so in a way that is considered permanent.

Future administrations cannot craft rules that are “substantially similar” to the one being overturned.

The Trump administration can reverse any of the same regulations on its own, and has already begun to do so, but through an administrative process that takes a year or longer.

This is not the first time Republicans, who assumed unified control of Washington in January, have attempted to expand the Congressional Review Act. The House passed a version of the bill twice in anticipation of President Donald Trump taking office in 2017.

The chamber approved the legislation again last December, after Trump was elected to a second term.

But Republicans lack the votes needed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, dimming its chances of becoming law. 

Republicans are limited in which regulations they can repeal, with the Congressional Review Act creating a “lookback window” that extends to late summer.

But Biden created a bevy of targets for congressional Republicans as he drafted rules covering home safety standards, environmental pollutants, and more in his final months.

There are more than 100 “significant” rules eligible for repeal, according to a review by George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center. Of those, 34 have an estimated annual impact of at least $200 million.

The last time Trump entered office, the limiting factor was time on the Senate floor. Each CRA resolution requires up to 10 hours of debate, and Republicans were preoccupied with confirming Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

Congress ultimately undid a record 16 rules at the outset of Trump’s first term, marking the most expansive use of the CRA to date. By comparison, Biden worked with a Democratic Congress to overturn three.

Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said 10 to 15 regulations are under consideration for repeal by Republicans.