House passes two bills to stop Biden admin from regulating appliances, resulting in price hikes

The House has passed a pair of bills that block the Biden administration’s efforts to regulate home appliances.

The Refrigerator Freedom Act prohibits the secretary of Energy from proscribing or enforcing energy conservation standards for refrigerators and freezers, if those standards are not cost-effective or technologically feasible.

The bill passed Tuesday on a 212-192 vote with seven Democrats joining Republicans. 

The Energy Department had argued the efficiency standards save money over the long-run, but critics argued the standards raise the purchase price of appliances, exceeded the agency’s authority, and undermine consumer choice. 

“The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden-Harris Administration have done nothing but implement overreaching extreme regulations that only serve to limit consumer choice, increase energy prices,” bill sponsor Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said in a statement. 

The second bill, the Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act, attempt to do the same as the one for dishwashers.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Nicholas Langworthy, R-N.Y., and passed 214-192, with seven Democrats joining Republicans. 

“Unelected bureaucrats in the Biden administration have twisted this law to serve a radical environmental agenda, imposing draconian standards that burden hardworking families,” Langworthy said in a statement.

The measure now goes the Senate, in which Democrats have a one-vote majority.