In the waning days of the Bush administration, federal agencies finalized scores of new regulations. Many of these so-called midnight regulations were deregulatory in nature, targeting public protections for the environment, workers, and the general citizenry.

Criticism came from all corners of the progressive community: Environmentalists, women’s and family rights advocates, labor unions, consumer activists, humans needs advocates, and good government groups all chafed at the Bush administration’s campaign and considered ways to limit the impact of these midnight regulations.

Despite its responsibility to oversee the executive branch, Congress failed to take meaningful action on all but one of the most controversial midnight regulations. Although some advocates chose to sue agencies over legally deficient rules, the cumbersome and time-consuming nature of the judicial process made any action in the short term unlikely. That left President Obama and his incoming administration the challenge of tackling these rules.

However, the Bush administration had done its best to handcuff Obama by ensuring the rules became effective by the time Obama took office. Upon publishing a final regulation, agencies must allow for a window of time before the rule can take effect (often 30 or 60 days). By finalizing rules in October, November, and December of 2008, agencies had shrewdly timed many of their rulemakings to ensure that window closed before the Bush administration left office.

In this new analysis, OMB Watch examines the Obama administration's efforts to address these deregulatory measures and presents a rule-by-rule progress report on some of the most controversial Bush-era midnight regulations.