US House Passes Bill For White House To Provide Inflation Estimates On Executive Orders

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2023) The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill requiring the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Council of Economic Advisers to provide an inflation estimate for executive orders for $1 billion or more in funds.

House lawmakers passed the legislation, dubbed Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation (REIN IN) Act, in a vote of 272-148.

"It's time to take real action, audit the Biden administration's wasteful spending, and reverse Democrats' self-made inflation crisis," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in a statement on the bill.

The inflation rate when US President Joe Biden took office was 1.4%, rising to an annual rate of 6.4% in January 2023. Real average hourly earnings have also fallen by approximately 4%.

The legislation requires OMB and the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to prepare and consider statements estimating the inflationary effects of major executive orders, including whether it is determined to have an impact on inflation.

The bill defines a major executive order as any order that would be projected to cause an annual gross budgetary impact of at least $1 billion, not including measures for emergency assistance, necessary to national security or the implementation of international treaty obligations.