Blame the Unelected Bureaucrats

House Republicans know exactly who’s to blame for undermining the nation’s economy with agenda-driven, exorbitant, job-destroying regulations: It’s those “unelected bureaucrats.”

“Unelected bureaucrats, without input from the American people or their representatives in Congress, issued 76 major regulations that would impact our economy by more than $100 million each in one year alone,” Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) said.

“The American people no longer want unelected bureaucrats promulgating rules,” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said.

“Regrettably, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in the executive branch run the country,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) said.

“I want the Hoosiers of Indiana’s 9^th congressional district to have control over their futures without fear of unaccountable government bureaucrats with political agendas creating regulations to restrict their pursuit of success,” newly elected Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.) said.

Yikes! Who are these evil creatures?

“As far as unelected bureaucrats that we have heard people rail against . . . those are nothing more than the civil servants that make our government work,” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.).

They protect our water, protect our air, and they protect us, as a matter of fact—the FBI and law enforcement, Johnson said. “These are good people who go to work every day, work hard, like my dad did, for instance,” he said.

“He was a civil servant,” Johnson said. “I guess you could call him an unelected bureaucrat.”

“They are doing nothing but working a job honestly, and they deserve more than to be referred to derisively. We need them,” Johnson said.

At a forum in December, David Schoenbrod, professor at the New York Law School, called out Congress for blame-shifting.

Congress can promise benefits without regard to the burdens, while individual politicians then lobby agencies not to impose excessive burdens, he said.

“Which results in broken promises, which makes people feel betrayed,” Schoenbrod said.

This results in a “vicious circle” that allows Congress to blame agencies for both the burdens and the broken promises, he said.

“So some legislators can be against pollution killing children; other legislators can be against regulations killing jobs; and none of them have to take responsibility for the inevitable tradeoffs,” Schoenbrod said.

All they have to do is blame the unelected bureaucrats.