WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in an effort to fight the U.S. Department of Energy’s final rule on gas furnace efficiency standards. The Biden administration’s rule will go into effect on February 16, 2024, forcing manufacturers to sell only furnaces that convert at least 95% of fuel into heat. The rule will effectively ban all non-condensing furnace models, coercing a majority of American households to adopt electric heat pumps or pay thousands of dollars to renovate their homes to meet the requirements of new residential gas furnaces.
“The Biden administration’s war on appliances just escalated,” said Risch. “New regulations will eliminate more than half of the gas powered furnaces available to Americans, appliances which are needed to heat many homes. Consumer choice matters. Congress must stop this absurd regulation before it adds to the growing costs this administration has already pushed onto Idahoans.”
“The Biden Administration’s disdain for the average American is never more evident than in their ill-considered attempts to over-regulate household appliances at the expense and detriment of the consumers,” said Crapo. “We must continue to fight back against regulatory overreach by the federal government.”
“This administration doesn’t care that their radical climate agenda will have a catastrophic impact on American families and small businesses. Eliminating all non-condensing natural gas furnaces will only serve to further hurt families who are already struggling to get by. I’m committed to doing everything in my power to push back against this rule that puts the radical left’s fringe climate agenda before the needs of the American people,” said Cruz.
Risch, Crapo, and Cruz are joined by Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in introducing the resolution.
