White House Influence and Interference

Articles & Analysis

Time to Take Regulations Seriously: How Legislative Sleight-of-Hand is Being Used to Undermine Public Protections

When the 112th Congress convened, it agreed to a rule that, barring emergencies, no bill would be voted on until its text had been publicly available for three days. Recently, however, anti-regulatory legislators have become adept at using amendments and seemingly innocuous provisions to attempt to undercut long-standing safeguards without providing sufficient time for debate and discussion of the implications of their actions. These tactics threaten public protections and the legislative process itself.

Administration Fumbling Toward Scientific Integrity

The Obama administration's efforts to protect scientific integrity moved forward recently with the submission of five finalized agency policies and 14 draft policies, but progress has been slow and haphazard. The administration recognizes that sound, uncensored science is critically important to protecting public health and the environment. The administration also understands that agencies should foster a culture of scientific integrity that includes effective policies and oversight to protect science from political manipulation and research misconduct. However, it has yet to undo the damage wrought by the previous administration.

Obama Administration Weighing Rules to Keep or Repeal

On May 18, the Obama administration is expected to take the next step in its process for reviewing federal regulations. Agencies and the White House sit at an important crossroads: will they defend existing regulatory safeguards or weaken rules in an attempt to appease special interests?

Obama's Regulatory Reforms Protect the Status Quo

On Jan. 18, President Obama issued a long-awaited executive order on the regulatory process and two related presidential memoranda. The order and the memos are aimed at reaffirming the existing regulatory process rather than significantly reforming it. The most impactful of the three documents is likely to be the memo on regulatory compliance, which stems from the administration's commitment to greater government accountability.

OMB Watch Comments on Obama Regulatory Reform Package

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2011—The Obama administration today released three documents aimed at reforming some aspects of the regulatory process. Two of the actions, an executive order and a memorandum on small businesses and job creation, reaffirm existing approaches that have been in place for decades. Another memorandum seeks greater government accountability by directing agencies to disclose more regulatory compliance information. OMB Watch believes that while the reform package ushers in some positive policy measures, it also contains some problematic language and reinforces false notions regarding job creation and strong public protections.

Rules to Watch for in 2011

Federal agencies have released their rulemaking agendas for 2011, providing the public with a roadmap of the health, safety, and environmental safeguards it can anticipate in the new year.

Report Finds Regulatory Process Changes Stalled at Midterm Point of Obama Administration

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2011—Today, OMB Watch released the third and final report in a series on public protections and the Obama administration. The new report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: The Regulatory Process, finds that although the Obama administration's overall regulatory philosophy is strikingly different from that of the previous administration, promised changes to the federal regulatory process have stalled out.

Report Shows Obama Administration Stepping Up Enforcement of Labor, Consumer Protection, Environmental Laws

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2010—In a new report released today, OMB Watch examines the regulatory enforcement actions of the Obama administration at its midterm point. The report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: Enforcement, illustrates that executive branch agencies under Obama have stepped up enforcement of a number of important labor, consumer protection, and environmental laws and regulations. The report is the second in a series of three publications on the Obama administration's approach to public protections and the federal regulatory process.

White House Sued over Delayed Scientific Integrity Policy

The nonprofit organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is suing the Obama administration over a long-delayed policy to limit interference in federal scientific research and to protect government scientists from censorship and harassment.

Commentary: Did OMB Block Worst-Case Estimates of Oil Spill?

A working paper by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling has ignited a controversy about the role of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in controlling information about the spill. The working paper alleges that, soon after the April 20 explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig, OMB blocked plans to disclose the government's worst-case models of the spill. The administration's response to the allegations leaves several key questions without clear answers, which can only be resolved by disclosing the drafts and feedback through which these critical documents were developed.