Politics
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By Adam Andrzejewski for RealClearInvestigations
Topline: President Joe Biden’s administration has already spent greater than $7 million on “sue-and-settle” lawyer charges, twice as a lot as former President Donald Trump’s White Home spent in a complete four-year time period.
Key info: “Sue-and-settle” describes situations the place a non-public get together sues a authorities company, however a settlement is reached exterior of court docket.
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Critics say the approach permits the Environmental Safety Company to create coverage via these settlements with out Congressional approval, and wastes taxpayer cash on litigation.
The federal government usually covers prices for environmental nonprofits suing the EPA, utilizing taxpayer cash. In excessive situations, the federal government spends nearly $500,000 on a single case.
“Sue-and-settle” additionally lets the EPA make choices about how a selected regulation ought to be enforced with out asking Congress, which former EPA Administrator Scott Pruit described as “collusion.”
Auditors at OpenTheBooks.com discovered that in simply two years, Biden’s administration has already spent extra on “sue-and-settle” than another latest president.
Biden’s administration paid out $3.3 million in litigation charges throughout its first yr. That’s six instances greater than Trump’s administration spent in its first yr, and almost as a lot because the $3.6 million spent throughout Trump’s total time period.
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Background: Relatively than curb litigation spending, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan issued a memorandum in March 2022 that eradicated many Trump-era EPA insurance policies designed to scale back “sue-and-settle.” The federal government went on to spend $3.6 million in lawyer charges in 2022.
The rise in lawyer charges underneath Biden is per the change between the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. “Sue-and-settle” was used 77 instances throughout Obama’s second time period, in comparison with 28 instances in Bush’s second time period.
That value the Obama administration $5.8 million, a quantity that Biden’s EPA surpassed in simply two years. It additionally allowed the EPA to create 100 new laws with out Congressional oversight, based on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Reps. Pat Fallon (R-TX) and James Comer (R-KY) despatched a letter to Regan on Nov. 14, 2023, requesting paperwork for an investigation into potential abuses of the coverage.
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Crucial quote: “On March 28, 2022, [Regan] revoked a policy designed to protect the American taxpayer from … sue-and-settle consent decrees and settlement agreements,” Fallon and Comer wrote of their letter. “Because of your action, sue-and-settle abuses appear to have proliferated at the Biden Administration EPA. Sue-and-settle litigation has plagued the federal regulatory system for decades, allowing special interest groups to dictate federal policy through lawsuits without adherence to normal regulatory processes.”
Abstract: Biden’s first time period as president is ending, however “sue-and-settle” methods may proceed being employed in his potential second time period. It stays to be seen whether or not oversight equivalent to Fallon and Comer’s will pressure the EPA to vary its insurance policies.
The #WasteOfTheDay is delivered to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
Reprinted with permission from RealClearWire.