Reform's Knockout Act, Kept Out of the Ring

There are other ways to deal with unpopular rules. Members of Congress opposed to a regulatory initiative can seek to get its funding cut. Because there is no mechanism screening which rules go to Congress for review, the result is a deluge of rules tough for congressional staffers to digest and review. There is talk of creating a joint committee to recommend rules for disapproval or an office of independent regulatory analysis.

Peter Strauss , a law professor at Columbia University Law School , said he is not convinced the benefits outweigh the paper-pushing costs.

He particularly dislikes the aspect of the law that prevents an agency from adopting a similar rule after Congress disapproves the original rule. "What if a Labor secretary wants a rule now? What kind of risks will you run in doing that, and how will a court interpret that?" asked Strauss, referring to the ergonomic issue.

Gary Bass , executive director of OMB Watch , a public-interest group that monitors federal regulation, says there is simply no need for the review law. "If Congress was doing oversight effectively, you wouldn't need a CRA," Bass said.

The congressional staffers who worked on the legislation got together recently for a CRA lunch and reunion. Some of them conceded that Congress has lacked the will to use the mechanism.

"I expected it to be used more forcefully, and so did the sponsors," said Todd F. Gaziano , one of the principal drafters of the legislation and now a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation . "Some of the new members of Congress don't even know it exists."

Gaziano, however, is convinced the law has served valuable purposes. He said there now is an official database of agencies' final rules, a resource for Congress and scholars.

He thinks the existence, if not the use, of the act has deterred agencies from writing rules that stray too far from congressional intent.

As for complaints that it's too much work for Congress to review all these rules, Gaziano suggests it hire more staffers. "Why should we expect the American people to be bound by these rules if the staffs of Congress won't even pass their eyes over them?" he asked.