GOP Rep. Ben Cline Moves to Scrap Obama-Era Agency Pushing ‘Green New Deal’ Regulations

Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) and other House Republicans unveiled legislation on Thursday aimed at scrapping an Obama-era agency that pushes “Green New Deal”-style regulations.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The legislation created the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) to regulate the private insurance market. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in October the agency would start collecting more data from business and homeowners’ insurance plans to figure out how alleged climate risks might impact the policies.

Cline told the Daily Caller that the regulation serves as a primary reason that the agency should be scrapped altogether. The Virginia Republican explained that the agency duplicates responsibilities at the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

He explained to the Caller:

The Federal Insurance Office’s burdensome regulations and oppressive federal oversight of each state’s insurance market are glaring examples of the federal government’s excessive overreach. Worse, the Biden Administration has weaponized this bureaucracy to implement its woke Green New Deal agenda in the regulation of insurance. State laws protecting the availability of insurance for millions of Americans should be defended, not used as a political football. Defunding the ever-expanding agency is a good step towards draining the D.C. swamp and returning oversight back to the states.

Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Glen Grothman (R-WI), Alex Mooney (R-WY), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Randy Weber (R-TX) cosponsored the legislation.

Cline, a Freedom Caucus member, is not solely focused on scrapping financial regulations; he has also raised the alarm about the FBI and other law enforcement agencies purchasing Americans’ private data, which some lawmakers have referred to as a run around the Fourth Amendment.