Hatch Urges Swift Movement on Judges
Washington, D.C.—On Wednesday, the White House announced a new slate of 11 judicial nominees in an effort to fill more than 120 openings on the federal bench. Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, commented about the importance of these lower courts and committed to act quickly to fill these critical vacancies.
The confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch was a defining moment for our democracy, ensuring that a textual interpretation of the Constitution continues to take precedence in our nation’s highest court,” Senator Hatch said. “In keeping with his commitment to preserve the integrity of the federal judiciary, I’m pleased that the President has nominated slates of principled judges to the lower courts as well. These courts exercise tremendous power, determining the bulk of our nation’s actual cases and controversies and providing the first—and often dispositive—judicial take on emerging issues.
President Obama understood the singular importance of the lower courts, which is why he was so vigorous in appointing judges with a greater commitment to the liberal political agenda than to our Constitution. During his tenure, President Obama resorted to extreme measures to fill more than 40 percent of the federal judiciary with such activist judges.
The time has come to right the wrongs of the previous administration. I look forward to working closely with Chairman Grassley and the White House to advance the President's nominees. These supremely qualified jurists will restore respect and credibility to the judicial branch by saying what the law is—not what it ought to be.
Senator Hatch’s History on Judicial Confirmations
Hatch Introduces Former Staffer for Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator
Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah—the senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee—introduced his former staffer, Neomi Rao, to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Rao has been nominated by the President to serve as the next Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Senator Hatch expressed his strong support for Rao’s confirmation and also outlined his agenda to further regulatory reform.
Statement on Professor Neomi Rao and regulatory reform:
“Mr. Chairman, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce Professor Neomi Rao at today’s hearing, and to fully commend her confirmation to the committee. I’ve known Professor Rao for some time, ever since she worked as a counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Since then, Professor Rao has distinguished herself in private practice, government service, and academia. Her experiences have prepared her well for what will be an important and challenging task ahead.
Over the span of several past administrations, a consensus has formed that an important step in streamlining and improving the administrative process is to empower an OIRA Administrator. Professor Rao is supremely and uniquely qualified to step into this role. Under her watch, we can expect OIRA to carefully scrutinize rules to assure that they satisfy cost-benefit analysis.”
Statement on continuing regulatory reform efforts:
“But, of course, as Professor Rao gets to work, we can’t take our eye off the ball here in Congress. We will need more than just exceptional candidates like Professor Rao at OIRA. The legislative branch must do its part. That’s why I was pleased to co-sponsor the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA), along with Senators Portman, Lankford, Manchin, and Heitkamp. The committee reported this legislation to the full Senate last month. I’m hopeful that the rest of our colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, will join us in making it law.
The RAA is a carefully negotiated, bipartisan effort to codify existing policy that streamlines and improves the rulemaking process. Further, I’ll be introducing legislation later this month, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, that will begin a conversation about the growth of federal regulation enabled by the Chevron doctrine and abetted by broad legislative delegation. Just like the confirmation of Professor Rao, these efforts at regulatory reform are not about politics. Regardless of which party controls the Presidency, regardless of which controls Congress, our administrative process is broken. The time to fix it is now.”
The full introduction, as prepared for delivery, is below:
Mr. Chairman, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce Professor Neomi Rao at today’s hearing, and to fully commend her confirmation to the committee. I’ve known Professor Rao for some time, ever since she worked as a counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Since then, Professor Rao has distinguished herself in private practice, government service, and academia. Her experiences have prepared her well for what will be an important and challenging task ahead.
The position of Administrator of OIRA may not receive as much fanfare as other nominations, but it plays a critical role in modern policymaking. This administration has said that it would get serious about regulatory reform. Republicans in Congress have said the same. Professor Rao’s confirmation will be an important step forward in fulfilling that promise.
Professor Rao’s qualifications speak for themselves. After graduating from Yale, Professor Rao attended the University of Chicago Law School. She then clerked for Judge Harvie Wilkinson III on the Fourth Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. After spending a few years in private practice, she served as an Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to the President, and then began a career in academia. She currently teaches at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where she is also the founder and director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
Mr. Chairman, there is little doubt at this point that our present system for formulating and implementing federal regulatory policy is simply unacceptable. For years, citizens and businesses have complained about an administrative process that is opaque and unresponsive. And for years, this process has produced results that too often harm economic growth, while rarely improving public health and welfare.
Accordingly, over the span of several past administrations, a consensus has formed that an important step in streamlining and improving the administrative process is to empower an OIRA Administrator. Professor Rao is supremely and uniquely qualified to step into this role. Under her watch, we can expect OIRA to carefully scrutinize rules to assure that they satisfy cost-benefit analysis.
But, of course, as Professor Rao gets to work, we can’t take our eye off the ball here in Congress. We will need more than just exceptional candidates like Professor Rao at OIRA. The legislative branch must do its part. That’s why I was pleased to co-sponsor the Regulatory Accountability Act, along with Senators Portman, Lankford, Manchin, and Heitkamp. The committee reported this legislation to the full Senate last month. I’m hopeful that the rest of our colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, will join us in making it law.
The RAA is a carefully negotiated, bipartisan effort to codify existing policy that streamlines and improves the rulemaking process. Further, I’ll be introducing legislation later this month, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, that will begin a conversation about the growth of federal regulation enabled by the Chevron doctrine and abetted by broad legislative delegation. Just like the confirmation of Professor Rao, these efforts at regulatory reform are not about politics. Regardless of which party controls the Presidency, regardless of which controls Congress, our administrative process is broken. The time to fix it is now.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I’ll say one more time that I am very pleased to be here today to introduce and recommend Professor Rao for this important post. The federal policymaking process, and federal policy generally, will stand to benefit from her leadership. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today.
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Hatch Statement on the Nomination of Christopher Wray to Serve as FBI Director
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate, issued the following statement on the nomination of Christopher Wray to serve as FBI Director:
"I applaud President Trump's choice for a new FBI Director. At a critical time for the Bureau, the President has selected a former prosecutor and Deputy Attorney General with impeccable credentials, vast experience, and strong support across the board. I look forward to Mr. Wray's speedy confirmation so that the FBI can continue its important work."
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Hatch Introduces Legislation to Ease College Transition for Students with Disabilities
Washington, D.C.— Today, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)—along with Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH)—introduced the Respond, Innovate, Support, and Empower Students with Disabilities (RISE) Act, a bipartisan proposal that will help students with disabilities transition to college life. Hatch’s legislation would allow students with disabilities to use certain forms of documentation from K-12 education and other settings to qualify for special education or accommodations in higher education.
“Students with disabilities deserve every opportunity to succeed,” Hatch said. “We can lend a helping hand by removing the obstacles that keep these students from realizing their full academic potential. Over the course of my Senate service, I have long sought to champion the rights of those with disabilities. In that spirit, I authored the Americans with Disabilities Act that fundamentally changed the way we treat disability accommodations. The RISE Act upholds this legacy by eliminating barriers for students with disabilities so they can reach their educational goals.”
Background:
The RISE Act, which amends the Higher Education Act (HEA), addresses several existing issues within the law that serve as unnecessary barriers for students with disabilities and their families. Currently, students who have already been diagnosed with a disability in their K-12 years or in other settings must frequently go through new testing to re-qualify for disability services during their post-secondary educations. Instead of forcing these students to expend the time and energy to go through new diagnostic testing, the RISE Act would allow previous documentation to be accepted as proof of a disability in specified cases.
Likewise, the RISE Act would make school policies and data more transparent for students and families so they can make informed decisions on the college that best fits their needs. The bill also provides additional support for technical assistance to colleges and universities to better serve individuals with disabilities.
The RISE Act is endorsed by the following organizations:
< >The National Center for Learning DisabilitiesAIM Institute for Learning and ResearchAmerican Association of People with DisabilitiesAmerican Association of State Colleges and UniversitiesAmerican Council on EducationAssociation of American UniversitiesAssociation of Public and Land-grant UniversitiesAssociation of University Centers on DisabilitiesAutistic Self Advocacy NetworkDecoding Dyslexia NetworkEye to EyeLearning Disabilities Association of America National Alliance on Mental Illness National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities National Down Syndrome Congress Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates###
Key Steps to Restoring Accountability to the Federal Bureaucracy
By Senator Orrin Hatch
http://dailysignal.com/2017/06/05/key-steps-restoring-accountability-federal-bureaucracy/
Over the last century, we have seen an exponential growth of the federal bureaucracy.
As a practical matter, federal agencies—not Congress—have assumed the primary role in making the policies that affect our lives. Governing by regulation reached unprecedented levels under the Obama administration.
In his first 100 days, President Donald Trump has taken great strides to return our government to the people by reducing how much actual governing occurs by regulation.
For instance, within days of taking office, Trump issued an ambitious executive order that requires federal agencies to identify two old regulations to eliminate for every new regulation proposed and to ensure that the net costs of new regulations are offset by the elimination of old ones.
Trump has also nominated a number of exceptionally qualified agency heads who share a vision of less government by regulation, including, most recently, the inspired choice of Neomi Rao as his “regulatory czar” at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
I will be pleased this week to introduce Rao before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing. She is a distinguished scholar, with extensive experience in administrative policy.
Her confirmation will assure that federal regulation is carefully scrutinized and improved before imposing additional costs on American job creators and consumers.
But Congress, too, must act.
Governing by regulation is costly. By some estimates, federal regulations now impose a burden of well over $1 trillion annually on our economy—an amount that would equal more than $15,000 per household per year.
But the costs to core democratic values are greater still. A bureaucratic vision of governance threatens the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution.
As James Madison explained in Federalist 47, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands … may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
Lawmaking by regulation consolidates governmental powers in the hands of unelected bureaucrats. It’s time to rein in the federal bureaucracy and make it more accountable.
That’s why last month I joined Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in taking an important step forward by introducing the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017.
This bipartisan legislation, if enacted, would constitute the most significant reform to the federal bureaucracy in over seven decades. It would modernize the regulatory process to make it smarter, more cost-effective, and more democratically accountable.
And it would do so without undermining the ability of agencies to fully protect public health, safety, and the environment.
For instance, the Regulatory Accountability Act would codify the requirements developed and embraced by our last five presidents that federal agencies must analyze the costs and benefits of new regulations—using the best data and science—and generally adopt the most cost-effective approach.
Similarly, it would require agencies to review old regulations to determine whether they still serve their intended purpose, and it would allow the public to petition for old regulations to be withdrawn or otherwise modified.
To address the democratic deficits in the regulatory process, the Regulatory Accountability Act would also ensure greater transparency and public participation in the rulemaking process. It would require agencies to disclose the empirical data on which they base their proposed regulations for public comment, as well as provide greater notice before rulemaking.
It would likewise limit an agency’s ability to bypass the public comment period—a dangerous practice federal agencies have increasingly embraced in recent years.
For the most economically significant regulations, the bill would require agencies to invite public comment before proposing the rule and, in some circumstances, would allow interested parties to request a public hearing on the proposed rule.
While agencies would have to engage in additional analysis on the front end for some rules, the extra work will yield better results on the back end. That means smarter and more effective regulation for the public good.
Importantly, the Regulatory Accountability Act would give federal courts greater authority to review final regulations and, in particular, to ensure that the federal agency officials followed these procedures.
It would also help restore the proper separation of powers between the branches of government by eliminating so-called “Auer” deference, whereby courts largely defer to agencies’ interpretations of their own regulations.
As I have argued, this doctrine displaces the judiciary’s constitutional role and encourages federal agencies to use less democratically accountable processes.
Some might wonder why Republicans in this Congress would push for regulatory reform. After all, the American people have elected a Republican president who has articulated a bold vision for cutting back on the most costly aspects of the regulatory state. This legislation would apply to all regulatory activity—both further regulation and deregulation.
We continue to push for regulatory reform because this isn’t about politics. The Constitution requires a proper separation of powers between the three branches of the federal government. It requires lawmaking that is accountable to the people.
The bipartisan Regulatory Accountability Act is critical to restoring those constitutional values and, in the process, encouraging smarter and more effective federal regulations.
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