An amendment recently considered in the House that would have put initiatives oriented towards diversity, equity, and inclusion under requirements for special Congressional review has failed, no matter the GOP majority that controls the chamber and the well-established GOP antagonism towards that inclusive approach. It’s also been targeted, for instance, in actions by GOP governors dealing with their state’s college systems.
The final results had those in opposition only narrowly ahead, with 219 opposing and 217 in favor. A small number of Republican defections were sufficient to sink the proposal, with six Republicans voting “no” alongside most Democrats. As could be expected, those who were in favor included familiar names like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has established herself as a leading fighter in the GOP’s demented culture war crusades. The Republicans who voted against the proposal included a couple of first-term members from New York, including Anthony D’Esposito and Mike Lawler.
A summary of the bill that the amendment would have affected seems to indicate that presidential moves involving certain features would flatly require Congressional approval before enactment, which could significantly curtail the ability of the executive branch to, well, do its job. The bill imposes its new review requirements on major rules, identified to include anything that would lead to “a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions.” (That’s from an official summary.)
It’s easy to imagine Congress weaponizing this power to stop action against climate change, for one. After all, progress on that front has sometimes been framed by opponents as a death blow of sorts to those involved in fossil fuels. Though the underlying bill has passed the House, it seems entirely unlikely that it’ll actually go anywhere, considering Democrats still control the Senate.
