GOP Attacks White House For No 'Meaningful' Oversight Of Agency Rules

摘要

House Republicans are criticizing the White House Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for failing to take "meaningful action" to block rules from EPA and other agencies, and also calling for OIRA to return more rules to the agency if the cost-benefit analysis is insufficient. But Cass Sunstein, administrator of OIRA, defended the rulemaking process at a Sept. 14 House Oversight & Government Reform Committee hearing, saying President Obama's recent executive order on regulatory review included a number of directives to improve rulemakings. Activist groups, meanwhile, say the rulemaking process is flawed because it is belabored with statutory requirements for various analysis. The House hearing comes as GOP lawmakers gear up this fall to challenge a number of EPA rules they view as overly burdensome and costly in the current economic climate, as well as to consider significant changes to the broader process governing how federal agencies develop their regulations.