A bill designed to make federal agencies more accountable to Congress easily passed the House in an almost party-line vote, 238-183.  Only five Democrats voted in favor of the bill.

The law will force agencies to justify the high cost of regulations and limit the ability of judges to interpret the rules. 

Democrats say it will make it harder for agencies to regulate the health and safety of the American people.

Reuters:

The legislation would give President-elect Donald Trump tools "to wipe out abusive regulation," said Bob Goodlatte, the Judiciary Committee chairman who is among the many House leaders calling for lighter regulation and saying the costs to comply with federal rules are too high.

Republicans say there is little accountability for regulations that apply to almost every aspect of American life because they are created by appointed officials and not elected representatives. Federal agencies operate either independently or under the president's authority.

The current reform push is part of Trump's campaign promise to "drain the swamp," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Wednesday.

As House Republicans push for reform - last week they passed bills requiring Congressional approval of major rules and giving Congress power to kill dozens of recently enacted ones - Democrats are fighting back.

Democrats have said the many extra procedures required by the reform bills would stall agencies' work, making it impossible to create needed regulations on the environment, financial markets and other areas. Democrats contend that slowing down rulemaking is intended to help big businesses escape oversight.

The accountability act would jeopardize the government's capability "to safeguard public health and safety, the environment, workplace safety and consumer financial protections," the Judiciary Committee's senior Democrat, John Conyers, said before the vote. 

"Worse yet, many of these new requirements are intended to facilitate the ability of regulated entities - such as well-funde

d corporate interests - to intervene and derail regulatory protections they oppose," Conyers said.

Specifically, the bill would require agencies to post more detailed information on proposals for an extended period of time, limit judge's interpretations in legal challenges, and require agencies to enact the lowest-cost version of a rule.

Democrats are full of it.  Very few regulations are written during a "crisis" – that is, rules that need to be written immediately to address a serious issue.  The extra time taken just may give agencies an excuse to get it right.  And reining in the power of judges to interpret the regulations with a political agenda in mind can only be a good thing.

Along with the bill passed last week that gives Congress the opportunity to review regulations that will cost U.S. businesses more than $100 million and another bill that virtually wipes out the Obama administration's "midnight regulations" enacted in the last 60 days of the president's term, the revolutioinary approach to reining in government promises to lighten the paperwork burden on U.S. businesses while still protecting the health and safety of the consumer and workers.

How these laws will work in the real world should tell us just how serious Republicans are in "draining the swamp."