White House Influence and Interference

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

read in full

Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

read in full

Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

read in full

Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

read in full

more news

Polluted Logic: How EPA's ozone standard illustrates the flaws of cost-benefit analysis

This analysis tracks EPA's recent revision of the national standard for ozone and uses it as a case example of the problems of cost-benefit analysis in regulatory decision making.

read in full

From Industry, a Big Push for Bad Regs

Dec 3, 2007 by Matthew Madia

In September, Reg•Watch blogged about a New York Times article highlighting a recent trend in which businesses are asking the federal government to regulate them. In some cases, the businesses' intentions seem good. In other cases, the requests may be nothing more than political maneuvering. An article in yesterday's Times revisits the latter of those two cases:

read in full

Testimony on Amending Executive Order 12866

Testimony of Gary Bass, Executive Director of OMB Watch, at the April 26, 2007 House Science and Technology Committee subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight hearing, "Amending Executive Order 12866: Good Governance or Regulatory Usurpation?: Part II"

read in full

Testimony on Amending Executive Order 12866

Testimony of Rick Melberth, OMB Watch Director of Regulatory Policy, at the February 13, 2007 House Science and Technology Committee subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight hearing, "Amending Executive Order 12866: Good Governance or Regulatory Usurpation?"

read in full

E.O. 13422: Unanswered and Unaccountable

On Jan. 18, 2007, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13422, which amends Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review. As of July 24, 2007, agencies are to be in full compliance with the changes. But despite great attention paid by Congress, the media and the public, little new information has surfaced. This analysis outlines the ways in which the American people remain in the dark about how these changes will influence the way our government operates.

read in full

White House Issues Memo on Nanotechnology Oversight

Nov 27, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Council on Environmental Quality have issued a memo to federal agencies titled, "Principles for Nanotechnology Environmental, Health, and Safety Oversight."

read in full

Latest Analyses from OMB Watch

Nov 21, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Every two weeks, in OMB Watch's e-newsletter The Watcher, we analyze a few recent issues in regulatory policy. Here are the articles from the November 20 issue: More of the Same: Import Safety Panel Leaves Business in Charge The Bush administration's cabinet-level Interagency Working Group on Import Safety released its final report Nov. 6 on ways to improve the safety of food and consumer products imported into the U.S. The report calls for limited increases in some federal agencies' responsibilities but does little to change the current voluntary regulatory scheme for imports. Read more...

read in full

White House Rejects Krill Protection Rule

The White House has rejected an effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect krill, an important marine species abundant in the Pacific Ocean. NOAA's proposed rule is a precautionary measure aimed at protecting krill in the future but was rejected by White House officials for failing to identify a need for the regulation.

read in full

OMB and EU Discuss Regulation and International Trade

Nov 15, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The European Commission and the White House Office of Management and Budget have released a joint draft report titled, "Review of the application of EU and US regulatory impact assessment guidelines on the analysis of impacts on international trade and investment." The report describes the system by which the European Union (EU) and the U.S. examine proposed regulations for their potential impacts on foreign parties and/or international trade.

read in full

A Proactive NOAA Vs. a Reactive White House

Nov 14, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, Reg•Watch blogged about a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rule which would expand protections for krill (a shrimp-like creature that serves as an important food source for larger marine animals) and how White House officials are blocking it.

read in full