The Republican-controlled congress on Thursday scrapped Obama-era rules on guns and environment, counting on a new ally in the White House to help reverse years of what the GOP calls excessive regulation.

The house of representatives backed a resolution doing away with extended background checks for gun purchases by some Social Security recipients with mental disabilities voting 235-180. The measure awaits senate action.

The vote is part of an effort to repeal a handful of regulations issued in president Barack Obama's final months and represents the first steps toward strengthening gun ownership under president Donald Trump.

The background checks rule established the criteria the Social Security Administration will follow when forwarding names for the criminal background check system.

Those fitting the criteria have a mental disorder such as extreme anxiety and schizophrenia so severe that they cannot work and need a representative to manage their benefits. The administration projected that the regulation would affect about 75,000 beneficiaries.