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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Update on Bush Changes to the Regulatory Process
Here's an OMB Watch update on President Bush's recent changes to the regulatory process and Congress's efforts to stop them:
Congress Fails to Mitigate
Executive Order's Damaging Impacts
In January, President Bush made significant changes to the
regulatory process by issuing Executive Order 13422. (Click
here for background.) Since then, OMB Watch has voiced its
opposition to E.O. 13422 for three primary reasons:
- It requires agency regulatory policy officers to be
presidential appointees and gives them new power to start and
stop regulations.
- It shifts the focus for promulgating regulations from the
identification of a problem like threats to public health to the
identification of a "specific market failure."
- It allows the White House to exert control over agency
guidance documents — subjecting a new class of information
to political considerations and possible delay.
On June 28, the House passed the Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations Act, FY 2008, and included an
amendment which would have prevented the White House from
spending money to implement any part of E.O. 13422. Although the
bill would not have fully countered the E.O.'s effects, it would
have eliminated some White House interference in agencies' work
this year. The amendment was offered on the House floor by Reps.
Brad Miller (D-NC) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA).
The inclusion of Miller and Sanchez's amendment created a golden
opportunity for the Senate to follow suit and pass a defunding
provision of its own. OMB Watch asked you to contact your
senators and urge them to pass such a provision and send a clear
signal to Bush that his attempts to erode our public safety net
would not go unnoticed.
And you responded whole-heartedly. More than 2,000 citizens sent
emails through our website to their senators. A similar effort
by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group that
advocates for scientific integrity in public policy, generated
more than 10,000 phone calls.
However, the Senate never debated or voted on their version of
the Financial Services appropriations bill. Congress was unable
to complete its work on individual appropriations bills and
instead, resorted to a consolidated, or omnibus, bill in order
to avoid a government shut down.
Unfortunately, when preparing the omnibus bill, the Democratic
leadership decided to remove the Miller/Sanchez provision in
spite of the thousands of citizens who had called on their
representatives to take action. The omnibus appropriations bill
cleared both the House and Senate, and is expected to be signed
by the president this week.
OMB Watch is disappointed that Congress was unable to combat
Bush's efforts to expand White House interference in the
regulatory process. On the amendment defunding E.O. 13422 (along
with a number of other contentious provisions), the Democratic
leadership lacked the broad congressional support necessary to
overcome the Bush administration's attacks on the regulatory
process.
What's next?
OMB Watch will continue to monitor developments on E.O. 13422
and look for ways to oppose it whenever possible. Your voice
will continue to be critical in proving public opposition to
Bush's changes and calling on Congress to create a more
responsive regulatory system that reflects the positive role
government can play in our society. Thank you for your continued
support.
Posted by Matt Madia
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