On December 17, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved Paul Ray, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). After approval, Ray’s nomination moved from the committee to await a vote in the full U.S. Senate.

OIRA is a federal agency located within the Office of Management and Budget that reviews regulations, approves government information requests, and provides oversight of statistical and privacy policies. OIRA gives presidents the ability to monitor agency rulemaking. Congress created OIRA in 1980 as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act, which aimed to minimize the information collection burden imposed by administrative agencies.

President Trump nominated Ray to replace Neomi Rao as administrator of OIRA on October 15. Rao joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in March 2019 and Ray became acting administrator of OIRA at that time. Before leading the agency in an acting capacity, Ray served as associate administrator of OIRA starting in May 2018. Before working for the Trump administration, Ray worked as a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and worked as an attorney specializing in administrative law.

To learn more about the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs or the Office of Management and Budget, see here:

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