House Republicans will be fulfilling our commitment to a future that’s built on freedom and a government that’s accountable by voting on the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act and the WOTUS Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval. 
 
FULFILLING OUR COMMITMENT TO A FUTURE THAT’S BUILT UPON FREEDOM WITH H.R 140
The Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act expands the Hatch Act - the law prohibiting federal employees from engaging in political activities in their official capacity - to expressly prohibit government officials from using their authority or influence to promote censorship of speech or pressure a social media company to censor speech.
 
MAKE NO MISTAKE: From pressuring Twitter to silence dissenting COVID-19 opinions, to the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed “Disinformation Governance Board,” the Biden Administration and the Far Left have infringed upon Americans’ First Amendment rights. House Republicans are working to create a future that’s built on FREEDOM, not government censorship.
 
BIG TECH COLLUSION & CENSORSHIP:

• House Republicans on the Oversight and Accountability Committee have uncovered reports that Biden’s State Department is using taxpayer dollars to censor conservative news outlets in the name of ‘disinformation.’ 
• According to the Twitter files, Democrat lawmakers argued to Twitter employees that the First Amendment “isn’t absolute.”
  • The Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust Vijaya Gadde played a large role in silencing The New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop, initially claiming the cover of their “hacked materials” policy. But according to an anonymous employee: “They just freelanced it.”
  • Following the release of the bombshell Twitter Files, news broke that former FBI General Counsel Jim Baker was the Twitter counsel who secretly reviewed the documents before handing them over to journalists. Now, we know there could be even more evidence of censorship and political collusion between the Biden campaign and Big Tech that has been hidden from the American people.
  • The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee did in fact collude with Big Tech to meddle in the 2020 election
• Last year, Facebook admitted to censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story in response to demands by partisan intelligence community members.
• Big Tech kept election-related content from social media users no fewer than 16,007,321 times from April to June, stemming from 15 individual cases of censorship.
• Emails released in a federal lawsuit last year exposed the Biden Administration for asking Twitter and other social media platforms tocensor Americans’ dissenting COVID-19 opinions.
  • In 2021, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the Biden Administration’s censorship by saying social media bans from COVID-19 ‘disinformation’ would stretch across all platforms.

Click HERE for additional information on H.R. 140 courtesy of House Oversight and Accountability Republicans. 
 
Click HERE for H.R. 140 graphics. 
 

FULFILLING OUR COMMITMENT TO A GOVERNMENT THAT’S ACCOUNTABLE WITH H.J. RES. 27
 The Biden Administration's decision to change the definition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) to include everything from streams to small creeks and puddles expands unelected bureaucrats' control over families, small businesses, farmers, ranchers, homebuilders, infrastructure builders, and states and local communities across the country.
 
IT'S SIMPLE: Hardworking Americans don't need more government red tape. This WOTUS rule is nothing but a costly and burdensome overreaching federal power grab that tramples on the property rights of Americans. Our farmers and ranchers already have a vested interest in ensuring clean water and are the best conservationists in the nation, but this rule assumes that unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. know better.  
 
BACKGROUND ON WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES:

• The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) established federal jurisdiction over navigable waters, defined in the CWA as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). However, the CWA did not clearly define which bodies of water qualify as WOTUS.  The CWA instead left it to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers to define which waters are WOTUS and subject to federal rules and regulations, including costly environmental compliance. 
  • As such, WOTUS regulations have been redefined over the years and resulted in regulatory burdens and ambiguity for small businesses, manufacturers, farmers, home and infrastructure builders, local communities, water districts, and everyday Americans.
• Throughout the years, the executive branch has attempted to clarify WOTUS through redefinition. Various WOTUS definitions have been the subject of litigation in the Supreme Court.
  • In 2015 under the Obama Administration, WOTUS relied heavily upon what is known as a Significant Nexus Test created by Justice Anthony Kennedy in a solo concurring opinion in the 2006 case Rapanos v. United States. The Significant Nexus Test allowed for a broad definition of WOTUS, case-by-case determinations, and significant ambiguity. The Trump Administration revised the definition through the 2020 Navigable Water Protection Rule which moved away from the utilization of the Significant Nexus Test by more clearly and narrowly defining what qualified as WOTUS and what did not, aligning closer with the opinion of Justice Antonin Scalia in Rapanos. However, the Biden Administration overturned the Trump Rule and once again created a state of regulatory uncertainty by returning to the Significant Nexus Test and more jurisdictional determinations. 
• The Biden Administration then released their redefinition of the rule on December 30, 2022, at the end of the year and the middle of the holiday season. It will create additional uncertainty and overly burdensome regulations for Americans. Additionally, this new rule was announced while SCOTUS is deliberating Sackett vs. EPA which could result in a court issued redefinition of WOTUS, requiring the rule to be changed once again. 

 
Click HERE for WOTUS Myths vs. Facts courtesy of House Transportation and Infrastructure Republicans, House Energy and Commerce Republicans, House Agriculture Republicans, House Natural Resources Republicans, and House Small Business Republicans. 
 
Click HERE for WOTUS talking points courtesy of House Transportation and Infrastructure Republicans, House Energy and Commerce Republicans, House Agriculture Republicans, House Natural Resources Republicans, and House Small Business Republicans. 
 
Click HERE for a list of groups supporting the WOTUS Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval courtesy of House Transportation and Infrastructure Republicans.
 
Click HERE for H.J. Res. 27 graphics courtesy of House Transportation and Infrastructure Republicans.
 
Click HERE for additional information on H.J. Res. 27 courtesy of House Transportation and Infrastructure Republicans.
 
Click HERE for H.J. Res. 27 graphics.