US House Votes to Undermine Financial, Civil Rights, and Energy Efficiency Regulations
The US House of Representatives could be hard at work trying to address major issues that the country faces. But the Republicans in charge are not actually interested in doing that and much prefer to fight culture wars and shill for large donors. And that’s what they did this week.
Undermining Energy Efficiency Regulations
The Department of Energy has put out new energy efficiency standards for refrigerators and freezers and for dishwashers.
Republicans, for whom energy inefficiency is often a mark of pride — combining a culture war gloss on a defense of industries unwilling to change for the public good, have been railing against such regulations since the start.
The House voted 214 to 192 to block the new dishwasher standards, with 7 Democrats joining Republicans. They were Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Don Davis (NC-01), Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), Jared Golden (ME-02), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03).
The vote to block refrigerator standards saw the same 7 Democrats join Republicans in trying to harm consumers and the environment.
Undermining Protections against Gender-Based Discrimination
The House voted 210 to 205, on a party line vote, to repeal the Department of Education’s rule clarifying that Title IX anti-discrimination protections include discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The rule also required institutions of higher education to address off-campus sex discrimination if the incident contributed to a hostile environment in the IHE’s educational activity and clarified that all non-confidential employees have a duty to report possible sex-based harassment or discrimination.
Undermining Crypto Regulations
The House also voted 228 to 184 to repeal the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) №121, which advises entities on how to record crypto assets held for their customers. In a striking example of Congressional overreach, the Congressional Resolution of Disapproval targeted an internal staff guidance as opposed to an agency-issued rule, and it will hobble the SEC’s ability to do its job.
21 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it: Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Yadira Caraveo (CO-08), Jim Costa (CA-21), Angie Craig (MN-02), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Don Davis (NC-01), Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Wiley Nickel (NC-13), Chris Pappas (NH-01), Elissa Slotkin (MI-07), Darren Soto (FL-09), Tom Suozzi (NY-03), (CA-14), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), and Ritchie Torres (NY-15).
