Cramer: Separation of Powers Restoration Act Reasserts Constitutional Authority

Press Release

Congressman Kevin Cramer co-sponsored a bill that passed the House of Representatives today reasserting constitutional authority and reaffirming the separation of powers.

H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA), seeks to restore the three co-equal branches of government by reversing the doctrine that has enabled administrative agencies to create rules that have the force of law. The bill overturns a 1984 Supreme Court decision (Chevron v. NRDC) which ruled that courts should, in many cases, defer to administrative agencies' interpretations of "ambiguous" statutes written by Congress.

H.R. 4768 amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require courts to conduct a "de novo" -- or from scratch -- review of all relevant questions of law, rather than leaving such interpretation up to the whims of federal bureaucrats.

"This bill defends the separation of powers designed by our nation's Founding Fathers," said Cramer. "Unelected bureaucrats have gone too far in their interpretation of the laws they implement and have caused a runaway regulatory state. Every year more of the checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution are being taken over by a vast, overreaching executive branch."

Cramer said in 2014 the Competitive Enterprise Institute documented more than 3,500 new federal regulations at a cost of $1.88 trillion or $14,976 for every household in the nation.

"We see this regulatory overreach negatively impact many areas of our lives," Cramer said. "This ranges from the Federal Communications Commission rewriting telecommunications laws to regulate the internet and broadband policies to the Environmental Protection Agency taking control of farmers' potholes. SOPRA is a big step in rebalancing government to operate in the way it was intended."

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