WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional Republicans are moving to block President Barack Obama’s plan to force steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rep. Ed Whitfield say they will file resolutions early this week opposing Obama’s plan to impose new regulations on new and existing coal-fired plants.
The two Kentucky Republicans were expected to file the challenges filed under the little-used Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to block executive actions with simply majority votes. The maneuver is subject to a presidential veto and has rarely been successful in overturning executive branch rules.
Still, it allows opponents to set up votes calculated to embarrass the Obama administration ahead of international climate talks in Paris this fall.
Republican senators are expected to tout the congressional challenge in a series of floor speeches starting Tuesday. One notable exception is New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who became the first GOP senator to support Obama’s sweeping regulation that mandates carbon emissions cuts from the nation’s power plants.