11 House Dems buck party to side with Republicans in reversal of Biden-era shower regulation

The House of Representatives voted 226-197 along bipartisan lines Tuesday to reverse Biden-era regulations on shower heads, a move Republican lawmakers framed as a quick and easy way to return choice to homeowners.

"Washington bureaucrats have gone too far in dictating what happens in Americans’ own homes," Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., the sponsor of the legislation, said of his bill. 

"This is about defending consumer choice, pushing back on regulatory overreach and standing up for commonsense policy."

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Asked what his thoughts were on the bill, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine., kept his thoughts simple.

"Shower pressure is a good thing," Golden said. 

Golden was one of 11 Democrats who joined Republicans to pass the Saving Homeowners from Overregulation with Exceptional Rinsing Act, or SHOWER Act.

The bill looks to codify an executive order President Donald Trump issued in April of last year, directing the Department of Energy to repeal the way the Biden administration interpreted water pressure in showers.

Under current law, shower heads can only produce a set amount of pressure.

That Biden-era regulation interpreted that to mean that the combined flow of showers with multiple nozzles had to stay below that bar. In other words, the more shower heads, the less pressure the individual nozzles could have.

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Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., characterized it as a way Democrats had gone out of their way to create unnecessary restrictions.

"It seems like the Democrats want to tax you out of existence and overregulate you. So, [the bill] is a step in the right direction. Less regulation," McGuire said. 

Fry, the sponsor of Tuesday's bill, said the legislation would reinstate what he viewed as the common interpretation of what a "shower head" meant to most audiences.

"That rule was widely criticized as overreach and emblematic of a broader regulatory agenda targeting everyday household appliances," Fry said in a statement. "The SHOWER Act is a smart fix that reaffirms each shower nozzle is just that — its own shower head — and should be treated accordingly under the law."

Rep. Brett Guthrie, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, echoed the comments from Fry.

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"For far too long, federal regulations and red tape have limited consumer choice and forced Americans to live with limited water pressure," Guthrie said. 

"By codifying how different nozzles are categorized, the SHOWER Act offers a commonsense fix that will allow households to choose what meets their needs, not what Washington mandates."

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it must receive the support of at least seven Democrats before making its way to President Trump's desk.