WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under Congressional Review Act (CRA) procedures for the Office of Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) rule that delays the bank merger approval process by adding more red tape that could lead to consumer uncertainty.

The Biden administration’s rule, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, amended the Bank Merger Act of 1960 to make it harder for the OCC to approve healthy bank mergers quickly. Kennedy’s resolution would reverse the Biden administration’s misguided rule so that banks can stay in business and serve hard working Americans.

“Big government shouldn’t stand in the way of healthy bank mergers that occur in the free market and serve consumers and job creators. In order to stabilize the banking industry and protect the Americans who depend on strong banks, Congress should quickly reverse the Biden administration’s bureaucratic rule,” said Kennedy. 

Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) joined the resolution.

Background:

• Historically, federal bank regulators assumed that a potential merger passed muster. The burden of showing that a merger would harm business and consumers fell on the OCC and bank regulators. 

• The Biden administration’s rule shifted the burden to individual banks, making it harder for them to fulfill their obligations by making smart, strategic mergers.

Text of the resolution is available here. 

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today reintroduced the Bureaucratic Limitation and Overreach Control (BLOCK) Act to establish guardrails for executive agencies’ major rulemaking.

The bill would lower the economic impact requirements of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) for major rules from $100 million to $50 million per year. Rules that the Comptroller General predicts meet or exceed the threshold would require a joint resolution of approval by Congress before the they could go into effect. 

“Bureaucratic rulemaking has run rampant and is burdening Americans with too many costly regulations. My BLOCK Act would make sure that Congress keeps the administrative state in check,” said Kennedy. 

• The BLOCK Act would permit a major rule to go into effect if the president determined that it is necessary for national security or disaster response but would still require congressional approval within 15 session days. The rule would become invalid if a joint resolution of approval had not passed within the timeframe.

• Six months after the bill becomes law, every federal agency would have to submit 20% of the major rules that it currently had in effect to Congress for approval. Following that six-month period, those agencies would have to submit another 20% of their major rules for congressional approval annually. Within five years of the bill’s enactment, Congress would have had the opportunity to approve or disapprove all major rules that were in effect when the BLOCK Act became law.

• The BLOCK Act would allow minor rules, which include those that the Comptroller General predicts would have an economic impact of less than $50 million, to go into effect upon publication in the Federal Register. Congress would still have the authority to pass a joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA to reverse minor rules that an agency had published.

The full bill text is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and colleagues in reintroducing the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act. The bill would exempt state rebates for Americans who harden their homes in preparation for natural disasters and floods from federal taxation.

“Louisianians invest their hard-earned money in protecting their homes from hurricanes and flooding. When states provide a rebate for this disaster mitigation, it’s foolish and unfair to tax it,” said Kennedy.

Louisiana is one of several states that incentivize citizens to fortify their homes against natural disasters by offering rebates for protection measures. Current law requires Louisianians to pay federal taxes on rebates that come from a source other than the federal government. The Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act would make sure Americans do not have to pay federal taxes on state-provided rebates.

“This commonsense legislation takes a critical step toward empowering individuals and communities to better protect themselves from the devastating effects of natural disasters like Hurricane Helene. By excluding qualified catastrophe mitigation payments from income tax, we are incentivizing property owners to make the necessary improvements that reduce damage and save lives. This proactive approach to disaster preparedness not only helps families rebuild faster but strengthens our resilience in the face of future disasters,” said Tillis.

“The devastating fires in Southern California underscored the urgent need to empower homeowners to take proactive steps to keep their families and homes safe. As these disasters become more frequent and more extreme due to the climate crisis, we should incentivize—not penalize—taxpayers for protecting their homes. That’s why the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act would provide a tax exemption on payments from state-based programs for homeowner investments in critical disaster-related improvements,” said Padilla.

The full bill text is available here. 

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) in introducing the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act, which would permanently list fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substances Act.

“Americans know the carnage of fentanyl all too well. The HALT Fentanyl Act would save lives in Louisiana and across the country by empowering law enforcement to seek justice against dealers who work with cartels to profit off feeding poison to Americans,” said Kennedy.

Fentanyl is a scheduled substance, but Mexican drug cartels make small chemical tweaks to fentanyl to produce drugs—fentanyl-related substances—with similar dangerous effects that are not controlled.

In response to this crisis, the DEA exercised its authority to temporarily classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. That temporary scheduling order will expire on March 31, 2025 if Congress does not act.

Under the HALT Fentanyl Act, fentanyl-related substances would remain Schedule I. In addition, the bill clarifies that the mandatory minimum penalties that apply to fentanyl also apply to the trafficking of fentanyl-related substances.

“Today, roughly 150 Americans will die from fentanyl poisoning. Cartels fuel this crisis by marketing their poison as legitimate prescription pills. They also avoid regulation by chemically altering the drugs to create powerful fentanyl knock-offs. Congress closed that loophole by temporarily classifying fentanyl related substances under Schedule 1. The HALT Fentanyl Act would make permanent fentanyl related substances’ Schedule 1 classification and ensure law enforcement has the tools they need to combat these deadly drugs,” said Grassley. 

“The Biden administration’s open border was an invitation to drug cartels smuggling Chinese fentanyl into the U.S., fueling the U.S. overdose epidemic. Law enforcement must have the tools necessary to combat this trend. We cannot let this Schedule I classification lapse,” said Cassidy. 

“We’re losing more than 100,000 Americans each year to illicit fentanyl overdoses. I refuse to accept this reality, and that’s why I’m working to deliver tools law enforcement personnel need to keep deadly fentanyl off our streets and out of our communities. Permanently scheduling fentanyl and its analogues will help federal and local law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking and allow prosecutors to build stronger, longer-term criminal cases. Our HALT Fentanyl Act will help stop the flow of these deadly drugs into our communities and save lives,” said Heinrich.

Background:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in 2023 there were 81,083 overdose deaths in the U.S. that involved opioids.

• In March 2023, Kennedy introduced the Fairness in Fentanyl Sentencing Act, which would have made sure fentanyl-trafficking sentences reflected the deadliness of the substance. Senate Democrats blocked the bill in May 2023.

• In 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 21,889 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill more than 4.9 billion people (assuming a lethal dose of two milligrams)—or enough to wipe out the entire U.S. population more than 14 times over. 

Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) cosponsored the legislation. 

The full bill text is available here.