The Swamp Stomp

Volume 16, Issue 6

President Obama vetoed a bill that would have blocked the Clean Water Rule on January 19, reported USA Today. The bill, which was proposed by Republicans last year, would have repealed EPA definitions of what constitutes federally regulated waters.

“Because this resolution seeks to block the progress represented by this rule and deny businesses and communities the regulatory certainty and clarity needed to invest in projects that rely on clean water, I cannot support it,” Obama said in a message to Congress.

The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, said that bill was a necessary step against a “blatant power grab by the EPA,” reported the Washington Times. Many Republicans shared Ernst’s sentiment that the definitions put forth by the EPA were too broad.

Supporters of the rule argued that these definitions allowed for the government to oversee waters that people may not ordinarily think could lead to drinking water. Obama addressed this in his message to Congress, stating, “Too many of our waters have been left vulnerable. Pollution from upstream sources ends up in the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters near which most Americans live and on which they depend for their drinking water, recreation, and economic development.”

Republicans used a seldom used law, known as the Congressional Review Act, to propose the bill, according to USA Today. The Congressional Review Act allows for Congress to overturn laws made by federal agencies if they can pass a bill in both houses. The bill achieved this when it passed in the House of Representatives last month, receiving votes from every Republican member and three Democrats.

The veto, however, is likely to kill the bill entirely, as Republicans lack the two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto. Congressional Republican remain determined to repeal the rule. According to USA Today, Ernst said she would continue to look for ways to undo the rule.