By Gary D. Bass, OMB Watch
Published in the March-April 2007 edition of The Environmental Forum

More than just a power grab, the changes President Bush implemented with his newest amendments to Executive Order 12866 and his bulletin requiring the Office of Management and Budget to review agency guidance documents have larger consequences. The requirement to conduct market failure assessments adds more layers of analysis for agencies — a paralysis by analysis. The requirement to have political appointees oversee all steps in the regulatory process allows politics to trump science and shapeshift the regulatory process in ways that can benefit regulated interests. The requirement for OMB review of thousands of agency guidance documents means massive delay in providing advice to regulated industries and further shifts agency discretion to the White House. Each of these actions upsets the constitutional balance between Congress and the presidency, in pursuit of the administration's goal of a "unitary executive."

Read the entire op-ed here.

Note: This op-ed appeared along with five others in a section of The Environmental Forum called "The Forum." "The Forum" is a dueling op-ed format, where several contributors comment on a specific issue from various perspectives. The Environmental Forum is published by the Environmental Law Institute.