Dems vow to overturn new Bush rules

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Last-minute federal rules issued by the outgoing Bush administration, most of which benefit key constituencies, will be challenged by Democrats, lawmakers say.

Among the new rules are controversial environmental measures meant to make it easier for mining interests to extract oil shale in the West, cuts to states to pay for some Medicaid-covered procedures and accelerated judicial review for death sentences, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

The economic impact of the new rules could be as much as $1.9 billion annually, the newspaper said. Many of them were published before Nov. 21, a key deadline that would enable the changes to be enacted before the administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Democratic Congressional leaders, however, have vowed to enact legislation that would remove many of the measures, likely by employing fast-track resolutions of disapproval within a few months after the start of the new congressional session Jan. 6.

"We will do whatever it takes," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "We're all over this. We've been waiting to pass on the information" to Obama's transition team.