WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced that he vetoed the bi-partisan resolution from the US Senate regarding the newly-released “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rules.

On March 29, the bipartisan bill passed with a vote of 53-43 led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) on the matter of repealing WOTUS. The House of Representatives also used the Congressional Review Act at the same time to try to block the recently enacted executive branch policies.

“The 2023 revised definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ carefully sets the bounds for which bodies of water are protected under the Clean Water Act,” Biden said in his veto. “It provides clear rules of the road that will help advance infrastructure projects, economic investments, and agricultural activities — all while protecting water quality and public health. The resolution would leave Americans without a clear definition of ‘Waters of the United States.’”

Capito provided her input on Biden’s veto shortly after it was released to the public.

“By vetoing this Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval, President Biden is ignoring the will of a bipartisan majority in Congress, leaving millions of Americans in limbo, and crippling future energy and infrastructure projects with red tape,” Capito said. “There’s a reason those who work in agriculture, building, mining, and small businesses of all kinds across America strongly supported our effort to block the Biden waters rule, and I’m disappointed the president chose to stand by his blatant executive overreach.”

In March, a federal judge ruled that he would halt the WOTUS rule in Idaho and Texas saying the administration should have waited for the upcoming Sackett v. EPA to be decided by the US Supreme Court.