WASHINGTON — Venturing back into the nation’s culture wars, the Republican-controlled House is taking up legislation that GOP lawmakers say would protect gas stoves from overzealous government regulators.
A bill approved Tuesday would prohibit use of federal funds to regulate gas stoves as a hazardous product, while a separate bill set for a vote Wednesday would block an Energy Department rule setting stricter energy efficiency standards for stovetops and ovens.
Both bills were set for approval last week, but action was postponed after House conservatives staged a mini-revolt in retaliation for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on a measure to raise the debt ceiling. Led by outspoken members of the House Freedom Caucus, 11 Republicans broke with their party on an otherwise routine procedural vote that threw the House schedule into disarray for a full week.
McCarthy appeared to resolve the dispute late Monday after promising more meetings with GOP holdouts and seeking to reduce future federal spending.
With the impasse resolved, GOP lawmakers resumed their focus on gas stoves and bureaucratic rules that Republicans call classic government overreach.
“It’s not a petty concern to the hard-working Americans who will be impacted,″ said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “The last thing they need is to have the Biden administration’s Green New Deal regulatory assault reach their kitchen appliances.”
The bill targeting regulation of gas stoves as hazardous was approved, 248-180.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is joined from left by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as she talks about her bill, the Save Our Gas Stoves Act, to prohibit the U.S. Department of Energy from implementing environmental regulations on gas cooking appliances, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
The White House said President Joe…
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