Susan Dudley recaps the regulatory actions taken during the early weeks of the second Trump term. Milestones include a pause to all rulemakings in progress, a delay of effective dates, and rescinding Biden's guidance to agencies for conducting regulatory impact analysis. Going forward, Dudley expects a slowdown in the number of rulemakings but the process will continue to be central to the administration's regulatory reductions. Read more atNew Trump Executive Order Aims To Speed Deregulation.
Our policy analysts discuss ten important trends that defined the regulatory landscape over the past year. With Zhoudan (Zoey) Xie, Sarah Hay, Finn Dobkin & Henry Hirsch. Read the full commentary.
As policymakers debate how best to harness the potential of artificial intelligence while fostering competition and safety, there are lessons to be learned from the regulatory approaches to novel technologies of the past. In this special, AI-generated episode powered by Google NotebookLM, the platform summarizes an essay by Susan Dudley with insights on the regulatory frameworks developed for technologies such as commercial flight, biotechnology, and the Internet. Read the full text of the essay.
Susan Dudley discusses the strategies and approaches the Trump administration is likely to use to advance goals of deregulation, such as reducing wasteful spending, reviving a regulatory budget, recalling some Biden rules through the Congressional Review Act, accelerating energy and infrastructure permitting, and more.
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to revoke many Biden administration policies upon returning to the White House in January 2025. Poised to have GOP majorities in the US House and Senate, the new administration has the opportunity to fast-track its reversal of Biden-era regulations using the Congressional Review Act. Our policy experts Zoey Xie, Sarah Hay, and Steve Balla discuss which regulations are likely to fall within the CRA lookback window and which might become potential targets for reversal early next year.
Following up on our recent forum event, Regulation by Enforcement: Blockchain and Crypto – Coin Center Policy Counsel and veteran Capitol Hill lawyer Landon Zinda returns for a deeper dive into cryptocurrency basics. Landon discusses the functionality of crypto tokens beyond digital payments, how crypto markets are evolving, and the current state of play for potential legislation and regulation of the industry. Explore more coverage of this event.
In April 2024, federal agencies broke records by issuing an unprecedented number of significant final rules. The surge of rules is related to the expectation that rules finalized later in the year may be at risk of being overturned through the Congressional Review Act. Senior Policy Analyst Zoey Xie and Senior Scholar Susan Dudley discuss the growing awareness and prominence of the CRA and the notable patterns seen in the April rush. Read Dudley's column in Forbes. Read Xie's commentary.
President Biden’s Executive Order 14117 is an ambitious attempt to mitigate the exploitation of sensitive U.S. data. While the order’s implementation faces uncertainty in an election year, its approach is more tailored to producing meaningful protections on data security than the recent legislation banning TikTok. Senior Policy Analyst Mark Febrizio discusses the importance of addressing data security. Read the full commentary.
Will History Repeat Itself? Forecasting CRA Use in a Second Trump Administration
If Donald Trump is reelected to another presidential term in November 2024, efforts to continue his de-regulatory agenda are sure to follow. Regulations can be challenged on several fronts, and the Congressional Review Act (CRA) is an increasingly important tool that could be used following a change of administration. Professor Steven Balla and Policy Analyst Sarah Hay discuss the policy themes rolled back by the 115th Congress in 2017 and which could potentially be on the chopping block again in 2025. Read the full commentary.
Director of the GW Regulatory Studies Center Roger Nober shares perspectives from his recent public comment to the EPA regarding California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards for In-Use Locomotive Regulation. Nober draws from his extensive career in transportation policy and regulation to call for a rejection of the California emissions plan. Federal preemption is key to interstate commerce, he argues. Read the full comment.
Director of the GW Regulatory Studies Center Roger Nober discusses the implications that new limitations on the longstanding Chevron Deference doctrine would have for federal agencies and regulatory rulemaking. Nober contends that the rhetoric around Chevron is overblown. The likely outcome of new limitations on Chevron would be a phase of regulation by adjudication as agencies adapt to build on their authority in the adjudicatory area. Read the full commentary.
Professor Steve Balla discusses a new legislative proposal which aims to implement recommendations of the Administrative Conference of the United States to better handle mass campaigns and computer-generated inputs in the public commenting process. The Comment Integrity and Management Act promotes best practices in commenting at federal agencies and directs further study on the impacts of mass campaigns and computer-generated content. Read the full commentary.
Policy analyst Sarah Hay dives into the Congressional Review Act (CRA), explaining its role in regulatory oversight by Congress. Hay unpacks the mechanics & usage, addresses common misconceptions, and sheds light on how Congress has used the CRA over time since its introduction in 1996. Read the full commentary online.
Last year was especially action-packed for watchers of federal regulation. Take a look back at major trends of 2023 with analysts Zhoudan (Zoey) Xie, Mark Febrizio and Sarah Hay as they share their perspectives on developments including artificial intelligence, greenhouse gas emissions, immigration, an overhaul of regulatory impact analysis, and much more. Read the full commentary and find previous yearly reviews at our website.
Connecticut is one of 17 states that currently complies with California’s stricter standards for vehicle emissions, pushing toward an improbably fast phaseout of gas-powered vehicles and making EVs a mandatory 100% of new car sales in just a few years. Bryce Chinault of the Yankee Institute discusses how the many economic and environmental tradeoffs of such a shift have state policymakers in Hartford questioning the wisdom of sticking with the EV mandate. For more, read Chinault’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed: Connecticut Hits a ‘Speed Bump’ on the Race to Mandate EVs.
On December 6, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda, the semiannual roadmap containing information about regulatory actions in development or recently completed by federal agencies. This release marks the Biden administration’s sixth Unified Agenda. Senior Policy Analyst Zoey Xie provides an overview of the document, key takeaways, and trends to watch in the months ahead. Read Zoey's full commentary.
The Biden Administration is more targeted than predecessors in its efforts to improve public participation. But will tools focused on the "supply" side of the equation be enough to increase public engagement? How are the Biden engagement initiatives different or similar from past administrations? Steve Balla and Sarah Hay share their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Read their complete commentary for more insights.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) just released its finalized guidance document instructing federal agencies in regulatory impact analysis: the Circular A-4. The final version comes after a draft proposal was unveiled in April of this year and following an extensive comment and review process. What elements changed from draft to final? Policy analysts Sarah Hay, Mark Febrizio and Zoey Xie discuss the notable differences to bring you up to speed. Read more in their commentary.
In the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), will the AM radio band be left behind? Automakers say that electromagnetic interference from EV motors disrupts the same frequencies AM station signals rely on, rendering their broadcast largely unintelligible. Tesla, BMW and Volvo have already eliminated AM radio from new EV models, with Volkswagen and Mazda signaling they will follow suit. Their decision to eliminate the band, however, has elicited a range of responses from stakeholders, which may eventually lead to regulatory action. In this discussion, Dylan Desjardins summarizes the bipartisan Senate bill, AM For Every Vehicle Act, and considers whether the public interest is served by requiring AM radio on auto dashboards. Read Dylan's full commentary online.
Co-Director of the Regulatory Studies Center Joe Cordes interviews Visiting Scholar Mary Sullivan for a discussion about the Draft Merger Guidelines developed by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.
As a former economist at the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, Sullivan explains how the guidelines diverge from the longstanding objective of protecting consumer welfare. Furthermore, the draft guidelines appear to favor policy goals of the administration and leave too much room for agency discretion. Read Sullivan's public interest comment on the draft merger guidelines.
