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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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more news

Under Bush, OIRA Interfered in Chemical Studies

Jun 11, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) questioned scientific conclusions and edited language in multiple studies assessing the health effects of chemical substances, according to a report released today by the House Science and Technology Committee subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.

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More Transparency Needed in White House Review of Regulations

Jun 8, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is asking the White House to improve transparency during its review of agency regulations.

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Questions Unanswered on White House Role in EPA IRIS Process

Jun 3, 2009 by Matthew Madia

As I blogged a couple weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to streamline its process for assessing the health effects of chemicals under its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).

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Obama Backtracks on Mountaintop Mining

Jun 2, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Coal industry lobbyists appear to have valuable access to White House officials, and they’re using it to expand mountaintop mining in the Appalachians, according to an article in The Los Angeles Times.

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EPA Regains Control of Toxic Chemical Studies

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is changing the way it studies the health effects of industrial chemicals in an attempt to quicken the pace at which new assessments are completed and to limit political interference in the scientific process.

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EPA Regains Control over Chemical Assessments

May 21, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it would take back the reins of its program for assessing the risks of industrial chemicals after the process had become corrupted by political forces.

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Obama Issues Memo on Preemption Practices

May 21, 2009 by Rick Melberth*

President Obama issued a memorandum May 20 to the heads of executive departments and agencies that should limit some of the worst preemption practices used by the Bush administration.

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Senate Panel Clears Sunstein for OIRA

May 20, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the nomination of Cass Sunstein to be administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The nomination will now head to the full Senate for a vote.

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White House Role in Rulemaking Could Improve, Report Says

The White House is a major player in agency rulemakings, affecting both the content of regulations and the length of time needed to complete them, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report comes as advisors to President Barack Obama consider reforms to the regulatory process.

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OIRA Nominee Sunstein Promises Law and Pragmatism Will Guide Decisions

During his May 12 confirmation hearing, President Barack Obama's choice for regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, portrayed himself as a pragmatist, one who will not use economic analysis as a straitjacket for regulations. In pledging to look to the law first for regulatory guidance, Sunstein tried to distance himself from past regulatory czars who strongly supported economic analysis to judge the adequacy of health, safety, and environmental rules.

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