In any incoming Administration there are two unique appointments which could have a significant impact on the ultimate success or failure of an Administration, the Director of OMB and the leader of one of its component offices—the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OIRA. The former helps develop and enforce Presidential policies using the annual budget as its medium of expression and the latter is the President’s regulatory pilot who operates from the cockpit of the regulatory state (OIRA); both positions are confirmed by the Senate.
Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from OIRA Watch.
Decisions made in each of the aforementioned Administrations were a defining moment which shaped the breadth and depth of centralized regulatory review by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the most significant institutional feature of the regulatory state.
Academicians are basically of two schools of thought, one believing that Presidential involvement in the regulatory process should be limited to oversight of the process but not control of the process and the other believing the President should exercise both functions.
From: Notice & Comment | A Blog from the Yale Journal on Regulation and the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
by Josh Blackman
Over the past two weeks, I have been asked more times than I can count how the Trump Administration can unravel the Obama Administration’s policies. My answer usually falls into one of three categories.
From: European Parliamentary Research Service | In-Depth Analysis
Author: Cornelia Klugman
This analysis presents the results of original research done on the US’s system of oversight. It is based in particular on a series of 44 interviews with policy practitioners, including members of Congress, assistants to members of both houses of Congress, as well as persons working in the Congressional support agencies, the US Administration, think-tanks and academia.
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Editor’s Note: An online publication edition of the complete study is available here.
From: Public Finance Review July 2016 vol. 44 no. 4 446-477
From: Library of Law & Liberty
by Adam White
Coherence in the Executive
Brian Mannix counsels wisely that the modern executive requires not just “energy” (per Hamilton) but also “coherence”—to wit, “an administrative consistency, not just across time and place, but also across hundreds of regulatory programs busily pursuing inconsistent aims.” I could not possible agree more; indeed, that was one of the reasons why my first essay argues in favor of bulking up the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and subjecting “independent agencies” to OIRA review. OIRA ensures not just that an agency’s rules pass cost-benefit muster, but also that an agency’s rules are scrutinized by (and responsive to) the concerns of other agencies. If an administration is to have coherence, then OIRA will be indispensable.
Red Tape on the Upswing
Oct 31
From: RegBlog | Penn Program on Regulation
How much do federal regulations cost? That question has been debated for decades. The truth is that nobody knows for sure. But we do know the cost is very high—and new rules are being added to the pile at a disturbing rate. According to figures we have compiled, 43 major regulations—imposing more than $100 billion in new, annually recurring regulatory costs—were adopted during the past seven years of Barack Obama’s presidency.
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From: Real Clear Policy
The regulatory state is deeply misunderstood. No one denies the importance of federal agencies in formulating the rules that shape the modern economy and civil society. But the regulatory state is not, as its critics maintain, an illegitimate “Fourth Branch” of government, operating on its own. It is, instead, a vital function of government, which is part of the executive branch (though not within the White House), and is subject to numerous constitutional checks and balances.
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How Private Food Safety Standards Restrict Access to Markets (and the Desirability of Doing So)
Oct 24
Editor’s Note: To understand the regulatory role of private standards, see An Updated Look at the Federal Policies Governing How Agencies Use Voluntary Consensus Standards in Regulatory, Procurement, and Science Documents.
From: Notice & Comment | A Blog from the Yale Journal on Regulation and the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
by Sam Halabi
Editor’s Note: For more information on the future of legal education, see CRE’s letter to the American Association of Law Schools, Professor Farber’s LegalPlanet blog post, and CRE’s letter to the American Bar Association’s Standards and Accreditation Committee.
From: Federalist Society
Administrative Law & Regulation Practice Group Teleforum
Start : Wednesday, October 12, 2016 12:00 PM
End : Wednesday, October 12, 2016 01:00 PM
Location: Federalist Society Teleforum Conference Call
Featured Speakers:
Daniel Farber
Kristin Hickman
Jim Tozzi
Adam J. White