OMB Watch has learned a Senate panel may formally reconsider the long dormant nomination of Susan Dudley to become the White House's regulatory czar. Dudley — whose 2006 nomination stalled in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) — could reappear before that committee if Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) pushes forward. In 2006, President Bush nominated Dudley to be administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within OMB. Dudley blindly opposes any form of government regulation regardless of its potential benefit to society, thus making her an illogical choice to head the office which reviews the rules agencies develop. Because of this, public interest groups opposed Dudley's nomination, and a Republican-controlled HSGAC did not think it a high enough priority to address last fall. Never to be discouraged by the opinion of the people he governs, Bush renominated Dudley in January. A day later, Bush named Dudley a senior advisor in OIRA. If HSGAC decides to reexamine Dudley's record, we certainly hope they will realize she is not fit for the position and reject her nomination. If not, we expect Bush to appoint her during a Congressional recess this year. Stay tuned to Reg•Watch for more. For the full story on Dudley, check out Public Citizen and OMB Watch's report The Cost Is Too High.

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Regulatory policy articles this time: Mine Safety Concerns Remain after Sago Leaders of Finance Committee Respond to IRS Outsourcing Program

As Reg•Watch blogged yesterday, a House committee held a hearing to investigate the Bush administration's manipulation of government climate science. The hearing was the second by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to examine political interference in climate science. Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) called the first hearing after the White House Council on Environmental Quality's refused to turn over documents the committee had requested. In his opening remarks, Waxman said CEQ has turned over eight boxes but has not yet fulfilled the months old request. Still, the evidence the committee has seen "suggests there may have been a concerted effort directed by the White House to mislead the public about the dangers of global climate change." The testimony of Philip Cooney was nothing to write home about. Cooney was CEQ chief of staff (in between stints at the American Petroleum Institute and Exxon-Mobil) until 2005. He resigned after it was discovered he had altered climate science documents to plant seeds of doubt. Not surprisingly, Cooney claimed his actions were completely justified and cited a National Academies of Science report as his basis. The committee quickly shot holes through his defense. Waxman pressed Cooney on a verbatim quote from the NAS report he had completely removed. The sentence indicated the breadth and severity of climate change. Read more from The New York Times

Today, OMB Watch released a full report titled A Failure to Govern: Bush's Attack on the Regulatory Process (download it here). This report outlines President Bush's recent amendments to Executive Order 12866 — Regulatory Planning and Review. The report details the potential impacts the amendments will have on federal agencies and the American public, as well as what the changes mean to democracy at large. A Failure to Govern: Bush's Attack on the Regulatory Process