Keeping Our Promise to Repeal

Mar 10, 2017

“For five years, Senate Democrats have blocked our efforts to repeal Obamacare,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said on January 6, 2016. “That ends today.” “With this vote, we are keeping a promise and putting a bill that repeals Obamacare and defunds Planned Parenthood on the president’s desk,” Ryan continued. “This budget reconciliation bill, which would reduce the federal deficit by a half trillion dollars, forces the president to confront the failures of Obamacare head on. But most importantly, it clears the path to repealing this law with a Republican president in 2017 and replacing it with a truly patient-centered health care system. We will not back down from this fight to defend the sanctity of life and make quality health care coverage achievable for all Americans.”

Slow Walking the Swamp Drain

Mar 10, 2017

The federal government employs well over 2 million people. One man cannot lead an organization that large by himself. Not only do you need a full cabinet, but you need hundreds of undersecretaries and deputies as well. Being president without the aid of your cabinet and agency leaders makes the job almost impossible. But this is exactly the position Senate Democrats have chosen for the new Trump administration.

The Time for Regulatory Reform in Congress

Mar 7, 2017

Executive-branch bureaucrats work in… the HHS headquarters, and the Labor Department – nondescript, Soviet-style concrete slabs that look more like nuclear vaults than government buildings.

Floor Remarks on Violence Silencing Speech

Mar 7, 2017

"I am truly saddened that I must rise today to address what I am afraid is a growing threat to our democracy: the silencing of political debate by totalitarian mob violence on college campuses."

Lee Statement on American Health Care Act

Mar 7, 2017

“This is not the Obamacare repeal bill we’ve been waiting for. It is a missed opportunity and a step in the wrong direction,” Sen. Lee said.

Dismantling the Administrative State

Mar 3, 2017

Last month, the Senate voted to use the Congressional Review Act to undo an Obama-era regulation issued by the Interior Department. In response, the director of the Department’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement told Politico, “I believe there’s a good chance that […] a court will overturn Congress’ actions here as an unconstitutional usurpation of the executive branch’s powers.”

Cleaning Up the Clean Water Act

Mar 3, 2017

In 1972 Congress passed the Clean Water Act to protect the “waters of the United States” by empowering the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” At first glance, this seems like a sensible, even commendable, piece of legislation. After all, who doesn’t want clean water?

Lee Finalizes Joint Economic Committee Staff

Feb 22, 2017

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) finalized his new Joint Economic Committee staff Wednesday, hiring Scott Winship as a project director. Winship was most recently a visiting fellow at The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity and formerly served as a fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Manhattan Institute, as well as a research manager at Pew Charitable Trusts.

Conservatism for the Forgotten Man

Feb 17, 2017

Donald Trump’s presidency represents a substantive – and long overdue – indictment of Washington’s political and policymaking consensus. For too long, Democrats and Republicans alike have clung to policy solutions that are no longer relevant to our evolving world and that fail to address the most urgent problems of our generation: economic insecurity, unequal opportunity, political marginalization.

The Military Humanitarian Operations Act

Feb 17, 2017

One of the most important features of the United States Constitution is the sharing of war powers between Congress and the president. The Framers knew the Executive Branch, united under the direction of a single individual, would possess certain characteristics – “Decision, activity, secrecy, and despatch,” as Alexander Hamilton famously wrote – that are necessary for conducting successful wars and responding quickly to national-security emergencies. Likewise, they understood that the Legislative Branch’s unique attributes – its proximity to the people and its consensus-based policymaking process, for instance – are best suited for making decisions that involve long-term commitments and include significant changes to the United States’ relationship with a foreign power.