As a general matter, the recommendations “should provide concrete suggestions on how the regulatory review process can promote public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, equity, and the interests of future generations.” In particular, the memo directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), of which OIRA is a part, to produce recommendations to improve and modernize regulatory review. The modernization memo and early personnel picks suggest the incoming administration is oriented in this latter direction. They have argued for taking the structure and expertise of OIRA and deploying it for more pro-regulatory aims. But if this group hoped for an exact return to Clinton- or Obama-era regulatory policy, they will be disappointed, because of the memo’s emphasis on change rather than a return to the pre-Trump status quo.Ī third group both supports a robust role for government regulation and believes that centralized regulatory review is useful for a well-functioning executive branch. On the other hand, those who have generally supported OIRA and the EO 12866 framework will be glad to see them embraced as signs of a commitment to careful, deliberate policy-making that reaches beyond a single agency’s sometimes myopic perspective. From this perspective, a return to EO 12866 reverts to a flawed process that takes too long to produce results, with major regulatory breakthroughs thwarted by political oversight of the president and his advisors.īridget C. Some progressive critics of EO 12866 and of OIRA may be frustrated to see these orders retained at all. What could seem like a mere reference in passing to these two orders, both of which reflect sensible policies, actually carries significant weight in the larger regulatory policy debate. The memo also affirms Executive Order 13563, President Obama’s signature regulatory directive, which both affirmed EO 12866 and added new provisions for more complete consideration of benefits-particularly those that are hard or impossible to quantify like human dignity-and evaluation of rules that have been issued in the past, among other provisions. It sets out principles of regulation, asks agencies to put their regulatory proposals through various analytical steps including cost-benefit analysis, and tasks OIRA with regulatory review of draft agency rules. The modernization memo first affirms long-standing regulatory policy by embracing President Clinton’s Executive Order 12866. The modernization memo, finally, is forward-looking, and as such gives the most insight into the Biden-Harris Administration’s regulatory plans. The freeze memo ensures that new actions will not flow through the regulatory pipeline unless the new team agrees with them. Revoking President Trump’s orders and other actions reaches back to uproot policies that were not aligned with the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals. The third was a presidential memorandum directing the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to modernize regulatory policy.Įach of these actions takes aim at a different time period. The second was an executive order revoking President Trump’s signature regulatory policy orders, including Executive Order 13771, which put in place a regulatory two-for-one order and a cost-based regulatory budget, and directives on the preparation and use of guidance. The first was a regulatory freeze memo from Chief of Staff Ron Klain, which temporarily stops the regulatory and guidance pipeline. Three early executive actions on regulatory policy But three less heralded Inauguration Day actions are likely to be equally significant for the regulatory system as whole. The new administration grabbed headlines with early executive actions on climate, COVID-19 response, racial equity, immigration, and more.
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