Noah Feldman, Columnist

Democrats’ Methane Rule Reversal Smells a Little Trumpy

Republicans abused the Congressional Review Act during Trump’s term in office. Democrats shouldn’t follow suit.

April 29, 2021 at 12:30 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Methane stinks, but so do legislative shortcuts.
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

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Democrats in Congress are using the Congressional Review Act to reverse a Trump-era regulation on methane leaks at the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans previously used the unusual law to revise an Obama-era EPA regulation on methane, as well as other federal agency rules — in fact, the GOP used the law 14 times at the beginning of Trump’s term in office. This marks the first time Democrats have followed suit.

Tighter methane rules are sensible. But the CRA is a terrible law.