Tag: administrative state
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Federal Register weekly update; highest weekly presidential document total of 2020 to date
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity. From April 6 to April 10, the Federal Register grew by 1,308 pages for a year-to-date total of 20,384 pages. Over the same…
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President Trump removes head of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
On April 6, Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), lost his leadership position on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) when President Donald Trump replaced him with Sean O’Donnell, the inspector general for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Trump asked O’Donnell to serve as inspector general of the…
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Federal court dismisses challenge to Trump regulatory budget executive order
On April 2, a federal judge ruled that a group of states lacked standing to challenge Executive Order 13771, which established a regulatory budget including a requirement that agencies eliminate two old regulations for each new regulation issued. Judge Randolph D. Moss, an Obama appointee serving on the United States District Court for the District…
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Inspectors General assembled to oversee CARES Act spending
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, created a committee of inspectors general to provide oversight of over $2 trillion available in response to the Coronavirus crisis. The committee, called the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), has the responsibility to promote transparency and to prevent and…
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Federal Register weekly update; agency rulemaking continues despite coronavirus outbreak
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity. From March 30 to April 3, the Federal Register grew by 1,604 pages for a year-to-date total of 19,076 pages. Over the same…
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FDA to implement coronavirus guidance without public comment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the agency would implement coronavirus guidance documents without first holding comment periods to solicit public feedback. The agency stated that it would not be feasible or appropriate to review public comments before implementing coronavirus guidance documents. Guidance documents, which advise interested parties about how agencies implement…
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OMB requests emergency coronavirus funding for federal agencies, urges telework flexibility
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on March 17 requested $45.8 billion in emergency funding to boost agency response efforts to the coronavirus outbreak. The funding aims to help agencies “maintain [full operational] capacity and ensure that resource needs created by the pandemic response are met,” according to the request. Much of…
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Federal agencies roll out guidance document websites
Federal agencies have taken steps to increase public access to agency guidance documents after the February 28 deadline passed for agencies to comply with Executive Order 13891, which required agencies to make guidance documents publicly available through an online portal. Guidance documents—non-binding agency publications that explain, interpret, or advise on rules, laws, and procedures—have been historically difficult…
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Justice Gorsuch argues against deference in criminal cases
Justice Gorsuch released a statement critical of applying Chevron deference to laws involving criminal penalties following the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 2 decision not to hear Guedes v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case challenged the Trump administration’s decision to outlaw bump stocks through regulation. Under Chevron deference, federal courts must defer…
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Fifth Circuit upholds limits on presidential removal power over CFPB head
A panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided 2-1 to uphold the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The court’s March 3 opinion said that the legal restrictions on the president’s authority to remove the head of the agency were “valid and constitutional.” Judge Stephen Higginson,…