Listen up, patriots – if you thought the Biden years were just a bad dream of inflation, open borders, and endless lectures on “equity,” think again. That clown show left behind a regulatory minefield designed to strangle American businesses, jack up energy costs, and micromanage every aspect of your life from your wallet to your water heater. But with Republicans back in charge and Trump sharpening the knives, they’ve dusted off the Congressional Review Act – that beautiful little law that’s like a delete button for leftist overreach. In 2025 alone, they’ve nuked 22 of these Biden-era monstrosities, more than all previous years combined, including a fresh batch signed just weeks ago on December 11. We’re talking billions in savings for real Americans, not the DC swamp creatures. Let’s dive deep into this Act that’s finally putting the boot to the administrative state, then hit the highlight reel of the top 15 takedowns that have the green weenies and bank regulators crying in their soy lattes.
The Congressional Review Act: Congress’s Secret Weapon Against Agency Tyranny
Back in 1996, when Bill Clinton was busy dodging scandals, Congress slipped the Congressional Review Act into the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act and got it signed on March 29. It was a genius move to claw back power from unelected bureaucrats who think they run the country. Here’s how this bad boy works: Federal agencies have to submit their final rules – we’re talking everything from EPA smog edicts to IRS crypto snooping – to both houses of Congress and the Government Accountability Office before they kick in. Congress then gets a 60-day window (in session days) to introduce a joint resolution of disapproval. No filibusters, no endless debates – just a simple majority vote in both chambers, then off to the president for a signature or veto override.
The real killer feature? That “look-back” period for so-called midnight rules – the crap agencies shove out in the last 60 legislative days of a lame-duck administration, like Biden’s crew did after August 1, 2024. When a new Congress convenes, the clock resets, giving the incoming team a full shot at erasing the previous guy’s legacy. And once a rule’s zapped, the agency can’t reissue anything “substantially similar” without explicit congressional okay. No judicial review either – courts can’t touch CRA decisions, keeping the power where it belongs: with elected officials.
Historically, this thing collected dust. Only one rule got axed in 2001 under George W. Bush – an OSHA ergonomics mandate from Clinton’s final days. Then Trump 1.0 unleashed it in 2017, shredding 16 Obama regs on everything from stream protections to teacher prep standards. Biden fired back in 2021 with three hits on Trump rules, bringing the total to 20 before 2025. But now? With unified GOP control, they’ve gone nuclear: 22 disapprovals signed by December 11, 2025, targeting Biden’s late-game power grabs on energy, environment, finance, and more. It’s not just reversal – it’s a message: America First means no more regulatory handcuffs on jobs, innovation, and freedom.
The Top 15 Biden Regs Sent to the Scrap Heap: Freedom Rings Again
These aren’t minor tweaks; they’re the crown jewels of Biden’s war on affordability and common sense. I’ve ranked the top 15 based on their economic punch, the controversy they stirred, and how they epitomized the left’s obsession with control. From methane taxes that would’ve hammered oil workers to overdraft rules squeezing banks, these reversals are saving trillions in compliance costs and putting power back in American hands. Recent revelations from December show the GOP didn’t stop at energy – they went after land grabs in Alaska and beyond. Here’s the hit list:
- Environmental Protection Agency: Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems – Signed into law March 14, 2025. This methane “fee” was a sneaky tax on oil and gas producers, designed to cripple fossil fuels under the guise of climate virtue-signaling.
- Environmental Protection Agency: California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; The ‘Omnibus’ Low NOX Regulation – Signed June 12, 2025. Biden let California dictate nationwide emissions with ultra-strict truck rules, forcing higher costs on truckers and consumers everywhere.
- Environmental Protection Agency: California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Advanced Clean Cars II – Signed June 12, 2025. Another Cali waiver pushing zero-emission mandates, basically banning gas cars by stealth and jacking up auto prices.
- Environmental Protection Agency: California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Emission Warranty – Signed June 12, 2025. Extended warranties and zero-emission powertrains for trucks – a recipe for supply chain chaos and inflated shipping costs.
- Environmental Protection Agency: Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act – Signed June 20, 2025. Reversed a rollback, forcing factories back into onerous pollution categories and killing jobs in manufacturing heartlands.
- Environmental Protection Agency: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Pollutants: Rubber Tire Manufacturing – Signed May 23, 2025. Tightened air toxics rules on tire plants, adding millions in upgrades that would’ve driven production overseas.
- Department of Energy: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Refrigerators, Freezers, and Refrigerator-Freezers – Signed May 9, 2025. Mandated pricier, “efficient” units for businesses, ignoring that it would’ve hiked food costs for everyone.
- Department of Energy: Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers – Signed May 9, 2025. Similar nonsense for commercial storage, burdening restaurants and grocers with unnecessary retrofits.
- Department of Energy: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters – Signed May 9, 2025. Pushed “green” heaters that cost more upfront, hitting homeowners in the pocket for no real gain.
- Department of Energy: Certification Requirements, Legal Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products – Signed May 9, 2025. Beefed up DOE’s enforcement hammer on appliances, turning bureaucrats into appliance cops.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions – Signed May 9, 2025. Capped overdraft fees at big banks, pretending to help consumers while actually limiting credit access for working folks.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications – Signed May 9, 2025. Expanded CFPB oversight to digital wallets like Venmo, inviting more government meddling in fintech.
- Internal Revenue Service: Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales – Signed April 10, 2025. Forced crypto brokers to report every transaction, a surveillance state dream that would’ve chilled innovation in blockchain.
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Business Combinations Under the Bank Merger Act – Signed June 20, 2025. Made bank mergers harder with antitrust red tape, stifling competition and growth in finance.
- Bureau of Land Management: Resource Management Plans for National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska – Signed December 5, 2025. Blocked oil exploration in vast Alaskan reserves, a Biden gift to eco-radicals that Republicans finally unwrapped and tossed.
And that’s just the cream of the crop – with those five more BLM plans nuked on December 11 for North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, northern Alaska, and central Alaska, the total hits 22, freeing up millions of acres from green tape. This isn’t just deregulation; it’s a full-on rebellion against the deep state. Biden’s crew thought they could lock in their agenda forever, but the CRA proves otherwise. Expect more in 2026 as the GOP keeps swinging – America’s back, baby, and the bureaucrats are on the run.