II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2378 

To require reductions in the direct cost of Federal regulations that are 

proportional to the amount of increases in the debt ceiling. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require reductions in the direct cost of Federal regulations that are proportional to the amount of increases 

in the debt ceiling. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Excessive 

5 Government Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘REG Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REDUCING EXCESSIVE GOVERNMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 2378 IS

1 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 

2 the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ under section 105 of 

3 title 5, United States Code; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘amount of the increase in the 

5 debt limit’’ means— 

6 (A) the dollar amount of the increase in 

7 the debt limit specified in the Act increasing 

8 the debt limit; or 

9 (B) in the case of an Act that provides 

10 that the debt limit shall not apply for a period 

11 and that the amount of the debt limit is in12 creased at the end of such period, the amount 

13 by which the Secretary of the Treasury esti14 mates the debt limit shall be increased at the 

15 end of the period of the suspension, which the 

16 Secretary shall submit to Congress on the date 

17 of enactment of such an Act; 

18 (3) the term ‘‘debt limit’’ means the limitation 

19 imposed by section 3101(b) of title 31, United 

20 States Code; 

21 (4) the term ‘‘direct cost of Federal regulation’’ 

22 means all costs incurred by, and expenditures re23 quired of, the Federal Government in issuing and 

24 enforcing Federal regulations, rules, statements, and 

25 legislation; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 2378 IS

1 (5) the term ‘‘joint resolution’’ means a joint 

2 resolution— 

3 (A) reported by the Committee on the 

4 Budget of the Senate or the House of Rep5 resentatives in accordance with subsection 

6 (d)(3); 

7 (B) which does not have a preamble; 

8 (C) the title of which is as follows: ‘‘Joint 

9 resolution relating to repeal of costly rules’’; 

10 and 

11 (D) the matter after the resolving clause of 

12 which is as follows: ‘‘That the following rules 

13 shall have no force or effect: 

14 lllllll.’’, the blank space being filled 

15 in with the list of major rules recommended to 

16 be repealed under subsection (d) by the commit17 tees of the House in which the joint resolution 

18 is reported; and 

19 (6) the term ‘‘major rule’’ means any rule that 

20 has resulted in or is likely to result in— 

21 (A) an annual effect on the economy of 

22 $100,000,000 or more; 

23 (B) a major increase in costs or prices for 

24 consumers, individual industries, Federal, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 2378 IS

1 State, or local government agencies, or geo2 graphic regions; or 

3 (C) significant adverse effects on competi4 tion, employment, investment, productivity, in5 novation, or on the ability of United States6 based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 

7 enterprises in domestic and export markets. 

8 (b) REDUCTIONS IN REGULATORY COST.—Not later 

9 than 60 days after the date on which the debt limit is 

10 increased or a suspension of the debt limit takes effect, 

11 Congress shall consider, in accordance with the rules 

12 under subsection (e), legislation eliminating rules that re13 sults in a reduction of the direct cost of Federal regulation 

14 during the 10-fiscal-year period beginning with the next 

15 full fiscal year by not less than 15 percent of the amount 

16 of the increase in the debt limit. 

17 (c) ACTION BY AGENCIES.— 

18 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF MAJOR RULES.—If the 

19 amount of the debt limit is increased or a suspension 

20 of the debt limit takes effect, each agency shall sub21 mit to the Senate, the House of Representatives, 

22 and the Comptroller General of the United States a 

23 report identifying each major rule of the agency, as 

24 determined by the head of the agency. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 2378 IS

1 (2) CERTIFICATION BY GAO.—After receipt of 

2 all reports required under paragraph (1), the Comp3 troller General of the United States shall submit to 

4 the Senate and the House of Representatives a re5 port evaluating whether agencies appropriately iden6 tified major rules under paragraph (1), including 

7 whether the agencies identified major rules in ac8 cordance with Office of Management and Budget 

9 Circular A–4, or any successor thereto. 

10 (d) ACTION BY COMMITTEES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each committee of the Sen12 ate and the House of Representatives shall submit 

13 to the Committee on the Budget of its House a list 

14 of the major rules that— 

15 (A) are within the jurisdiction of the com16 mittee, which may include major rules identified 

17 in the report of an agency under subsection 

18 (c)(1); and 

19 (B) the committee recommends should be 

20 repealed. 

21 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining whether 

22 to recommend repealing major rules within its juris23 diction, a committee of the Senate or the House of 

24 Representatives shall consider— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 2378 IS

1 (A) whether the major rule achieved, or 

2 has been ineffective in achieving, the original 

3 purpose of the major rule; 

4 (B) any adverse effects that could mate5 rialize if the major rule is repealed, in par6 ticular if those adverse effects are the reason 

7 the major rule was originally enacted; 

8 (C) whether the costs of the major rule 

9 outweigh any benefits of the major rule to the 

10 United States; 

11 (D) whether the major rule has become ob12 solete due to changes in technology, economic 

13 conditions, market practices, or any other fac14 tors; and 

15 (E) whether the major rule overlaps with 

16 another rule. 

17 (3) COMBINING OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

18 Committee on the Budget of the Senate and the 

19 Committee on the Budget of the House of Rep20 resentatives, upon receiving recommendations from 

21 all relevant committees under paragraph (1), shall 

22 report to its House a joint resolution carrying out all 

23 such recommendations without any substantive revi24 sion. 

25 (e) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 2378 IS

1 (1) CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REPRESENT2 ATIVES.— 

3 (A) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—Upon a 

4 joint resolution being reported by the Com5 mittee on the Budget of the House of Rep6 resentatives, or upon receipt of a joint resolu7 tion from the Senate, the joint resolution shall 

8 be placed immediately on the calendar. 

9 (B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—It shall be in order, 

11 not later than 60 days after the date on 

12 which the debt limit is increased or a sus13 pension of the debt limit takes effect, to 

14 move to proceed to consider a joint resolu15 tion in the House of Representatives. 

16 (ii) PROCEDURE.—For a motion to 

17 proceed to consider a joint resolution— 

18 (I) all points of order against the 

19 motion are waived; 

20 (II) such a motion shall not be in 

21 order after the House of Representa22 tives has disposed of a motion to pro23 ceed to the joint resolution; 

24 (III) the previous question shall 

25 be considered as ordered on the moVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2378.IS S2378

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 2378 IS

1 tion to its adoption without inter2 vening motion; 

3 (IV) the motion shall not be de4 batable; and 

5 (V) a motion to reconsider the 

6 vote by which the motion is disposed 

7 of shall not be in order. 

8 (C) CONSIDERATION.—The House of Rep9 resentatives shall establish rules for consider10 ation of a joint resolution in the House of Rep11 resentatives. 

12 (2) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.— 

13 In the Senate: 

14 (A) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—Upon a 

15 joint resolution being reported by the Com16 mittee on the Budget of the Senate, or upon re17 ceipt of a joint resolution from the House of 

18 Representatives, the joint resolution shall be 

19 placed immediately on the calendar. 

20 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.— 

21 (i) TIMING.—A motion to proceed to a 

22 joint resolution is in order at any time 

23 after the resolution is placed on the cal24 endar. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•S 2378 IS

1 (ii) MOTION BY ANY SENATOR.—Any 

2 Senator may move to proceed to a joint 

3 resolution. 

4 (iii) PRIVILEGE.—A motion to proceed 

5 to the consideration of the joint resolution 

6 is privileged, except that this clause shall 

7 apply only to a motion to proceed to a 

8 joint resolution reported by the Committee 

9 on the Budget under subsection (d) or to 

10 the first joint resolution placed on the cal11 endar after passage in the House of Rep12 resentatives. 

13 (iv) DEBATE.—Debate on a motion to 

14 proceed to a joint resolution is limited to 

15 not more than 5 hours, equally divided be16 tween Senators favoring and Senators op17 posing the resolution. 

18 (v) MOTION NOT AMENDABLE.—The 

19 motion to proceed to the joint resolution is 

20 not amendable. A motion to reconsider is 

21 not in order. A motion to table is not in 

22 order. 

23 (vi) OTHER MOTIONS NOT IN

24 ORDER.—After a motion to proceed to a 

25 joint resolution is agreed to, motions to 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•S 2378 IS

1 postpone or to consider other business are 

2 not in order. 

3 (C) MOTIONS AND APPEALS.—All motions 

4 and appeals relating to a joint resolution shall 

5 be decided by the Senate without debate. 

6 (D) FLOOR CONSIDERATION GEN7 ERALLY.—If the Senate proceeds to consider8 ation of a joint resolution— 

9 (i) all points of order against the joint 

10 resolution (and against consideration of 

11 the joint resolution) are waived; 

12 (ii) consideration of the joint resolu13 tion, and all amendments thereto and de14 batable motions and appeals in connection 

15 therewith, shall be limited to not more 

16 than 10 hours, which shall be divided 

17 equally between the majority and minority 

18 leaders or their designees; 

19 (iii) a motion to postpone or a motion 

20 to commit the joint resolution is not in 

21 order; and 

22 (iv) a motion to proceed to the consid23 eration of other business is not in order. 

24 (E) REQUIREMENTS FOR AMENDMENTS.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
11 

•S 2378 IS

1 (i) IN GENERAL.—No amendment 

2 that is not germane to the provisions of a 

3 joint resolution shall be considered. 

4 (ii) REPEAL OF MAJOR RULES.—Not5 withstanding clause (i) or any other rule, 

6 an amendment or series of amendments to 

7 a joint resolution shall always be in order 

8 if such amendment or series of amend9 ments proposes to repeal a major rule that 

10 would result in a decrease in the direct 

11 cost of Federal regulation during the 10- 

12 fiscal-year period beginning with the next 

13 full fiscal year. 

14 (F) VOTE ON PASSAGE.—The vote on pas15 sage shall occur immediately following the con16 clusion of the consideration of a joint resolu17 tion, and a single quorum call at the conclusion 

18 of the debate if requested in accordance with 

19 the rules of the Senate. 

20 (G) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE21 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

22 relating to the application of this subsection or 

23 the rules of the Senate, as the case may be, to 

24 the procedure relating to a joint resolution shall 

25 be decided without debate. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
12 

•S 2378 IS

1 (3) CONSIDERATION AFTER PASSAGE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—If Congress passes a 

3 joint resolution, the period beginning on the 

4 date the President is presented with the joint 

5 resolution and ending on the date the President 

6 takes action with respect to the joint resolution 

7 shall be disregarded in computing the period 

8 described in subsection (g). 

9 (B) VETOES.—If the President vetoes the 

10 joint resolution— 

11 (i) the period beginning on the date 

12 the President vetoes the joint resolution 

13 and ending on the date Congress receives 

14 the veto message with respect to the joint 

15 resolution shall be disregarded in com16 puting the period described in subsection 

17 (g); and 

18 (ii) consideration of a veto message in 

19 the Senate under this section shall be not 

20 more than 2 hours equally divided between 

21 the majority and minority leaders or their 

22 designees. 

23 (4) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

24 AND SENATE.—This subsection is enacted by Con25 gress— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
13 

•S 2378 IS

1 (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power 

2 of the Senate and House of Representatives, re3 spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the 

4 rules of each House, respectively, but applicable 

5 only with respect to the procedure to be fol6 lowed in that House in the case of a joint reso7 lution, and supersede other rules only to the ex8 tent that they are inconsistent with such rules; 

9 and 

10 (B) with full recognition of the constitu11 tional right of either House to change the rules 

12 (so far as relating to the procedure of that 

13 House) at any time, in the same manner, and 

14 to the same extent as in the case of any other 

15 rule of that House. 

16 (f) EFFECT OF JOINT RESOLUTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A major rule shall cease to 

18 have force or effect if Congress enacts a joint resolu19 tion repealing the major rule. 

20 (2) LIMITATION ON SUBSEQUENT RULE21 MAKING.—A rule that ceases to have force or effect 

22 under paragraph (1) may not be reissued in substan23 tially the same form, and a new rule that is substan24 tially the same as such a rule may not be issued, un25 less the reissued or new rule is specifically authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2378.IS S2378

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
14 

•S 2378 IS

1 ized by a law enacted after the date of enactment of 

2 the joint resolution repealing the original rule. 

3 (g) FAILURE TO ENACT REDUCTIONS IN SPEND4 ING.— 

5 (1) DETERMINATION.—On the date that is 61 

6 days after the date on which the debt limit is in7 creased or a suspension of the debt limit takes ef8 fect, the Director of the Office of Management and 

9 Budget shall determine whether legislation has been 

10 enacted eliminating rules that reduces the direct cost 

11 of Federal regulation during the 10-fiscal-year pe12 riod described in subsection (b)(1) by not less than 

13 15 percent of the amount of the increase in the debt 

14 limit. 

15 (2) INSUFFICIENT REDUCTIONS.—If the Direc16 tor of the Office of Management and Budget deter17 mines that legislation has not been enacted that 

18 eliminates rules that reduces the direct cost of Fed19 eral regulation during the 10-fiscal-year period de20 scribed in subsection (b)(1) by not less than 15 per21 cent of the amount of the increase in the debt limit, 

22 effective on the date of the determination, the limi23 tation in section 3101(b) of title 31, United States 

24 Code, shall be equal to the sum of the face amount 

25 of obligations issued under chapter 31 of title 31, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
15 

•S 2378 IS

1 United States Code, and the face amount of obliga2 tions whose principal and interest are guaranteed by 

3 the United States Government (except guaranteed 

4 obligations held by the Secretary of the Treasury) 

5 outstanding on the date of the determination. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS