Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley predicts the latest House and expected Senate vote to override Biden’s veto of the earlier WOTUS disapproval resolution won’t succeed.
“There will be an attempt to override, I’m sure. There should be such an attempt, but it’ll come up short. So, the rule will go into effect, and we’ll have to count on judges as we did in ’15 and ’16 when judges ruled that Obama didn’t have the authority to do it. We’ll have to rely on judges. Like now, we have two, one in Texas and one in North Dakota saying the same thing.”
Those judges together put the Biden WOTUS rule on hold in more than half the states. But the earlier House vote fell 61 votes short, the Senate vote, 12 short of a veto-proof majority of those voting. So, Grassley says the long-running controversy over what is a Water of the U.S. requiring a permit is now up to Supreme Court decisions.
“They deal with wetlands, and we believe that those decisions will curb the authority of EPA and Corps of Engineers to write some of these regulations they’re writing. But I think we won’t override the veto, and we’re going to have to depend on courts stepping in now.”
The High Court could issue its opinion in Sackett vs. EPA any day now, but likely by June. Farm groups hope the court finally ends years of confusion, fines, court fights, and land rights controversies involving WOTUS.
