Washington, D.C. – US House Republicans have unveiled a comprehensive plan to uphold the Constitution by putting a stop to executive overreach, reining in regulations, imposing new limits on spending and increasing transparency for taxpayers. This plan, referred to as “A Better Way to Do the People’s Business”, puts forth 31 ideas and is the product of several months of task force meetings and discussions.
“For decades the executive branch has slowly and systematically been gaining more and more power at the expense of the legislative branch and those duly elected to represent the people,” US Congressman David Rouzer said Friday. “So much so that now almost every aspect of our lives is dictated by rules and regulations issued by agencies of the executive branch – dictates for which members of Congress have no vote. Our plan would help reverse this damaging trend by restoring the power of the legislative branch, thereby providing the American people a voice again through their elected representatives.”
Putting a Stop to Executive Overreach
In FY2016, taxpayers spent about $310 billion on agencies and programs for which authorizations had already expired or were about to expire. “A Better Way to Do the People’s Business” gets a grip on unauthorized spending in order to improve accountability and transparency for taxpayers. In order to accomplish this, government agencies will be subject to more scrutiny from a Congress that writes clear laws and enforces clear lines of authority.
Under our plan, the legislative process will be simplified by writing legislation in plain language and with clear instructions to prevent excessive regulations. Rather than waiting years for a ruling, the judiciary will be empowered to expedite legal action against the executive branch to clear up disputes surrounding the separation of powers.
Additionally, our plan gives agency watchdogs more tools to root out waste, fraud and abuse by allowing for more transparency.
Reining in Regulations
The Obama Administration has averaged more than 81 major regulations per year. These are rules and regulations that impact every aspect of our lives yet members of Congress have no vote on these measures. House Republicans believe that the people’s representatives in Congress should have a vote on every rule and regulation enforced on the American people. “A Better Way to Do the People’s Business” requires a simple up-or-down vote before major regulations take effect. This will prevent outgoing administrations from rushing to put in place new regulations on their way out of office. The courts will also be empowered with more authority to strike down excessive regulations.
Imposing New Limits on Entitlement Spending
The federal budget has grown in such size and scope that roughly 67% of every dollar spent is outside of Congress’s control. These programs are known as entitlement programs. Currently our debt is at $19 trillion — 85% of the increase in the debt is directly attributed to entitlement spending, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public housing, food stamps, etc.
Our plan seeks to restore the power of the purse and impose new limits on entitlement spending so taxpayers know who is spending their money, what it’s being spent on, where it’s being spent, when it’s being spent and why it’s being spent. In order to get a grip on entitlement spending, our plan establishes a process to conduct a complete inventory on exactly what these programs are, as well as identifying reforms to save Social Security and Medicare from bankruptcy and restore accountability and transparency to every entitlement program.
Increasing Transparency for Taxpayers
In order to root out waste, fraud and abuse, “A Better Way to Do the People’s Business” puts in place measures to publish data on spending, link that financial data to performance data and toughen subpoena powers of Congress. Taxpayers have the right to have the tools necessary to better identify which programs are performing well and which ones are not. Our plan seeks to make that information accessible, searchable and reliable.
