February, 7 2001 Since his first day in office, President Bush has moved aggressively to turn back Clinton-era protections for public health, safety, consumers, and the environment. Specifically:

• On Jan. 20, Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, issued a memorandum directing that agencies halt publication of new standards in the Federal Register, effectively blocking last-minute regulatory activity by the Clinton administration. Among the blocked rules included a requirement for producers of hot dogs and other ready-to-eat meats to conduct periodic testing for listeria bacteria, which sickened 100 people and killed 21 others during an outbreak several years ago. For a compendium of standards that were impacted by the Card memo, see this Public Citizen report.
• The Card memo also ordered a 60-day stay of final rules that have yet to take effect. The Forest Service, for example, published a notice in the Federal Register on Monday saying it would suspend a rule banning new roads and logging in millions of acres of national forests, including much of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Recently, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to the administration expressing their concern that implementation of the Card memo "could be used to undermine long-needed safeguards."
• On Jan. 26, OMB Director Mitch Daniels issued guidance to the agencies on how to implement the Card memo. Specifically, he instructed agencies to withdraw all standards left over from the Clinton administration that were still pending review at OMB (all major standards must be approved by OMB before they can go on the books). For more information on the recent withdrawal of rules, click here. Note that the numbers used in this link are already out of date, as agencies continue to withdraw rules. As of Feb. 7, 90 rules of 142 have been withdrawn. To track these withdrawals, see OMB's web site.
• On Jan. 31, the Bush administration suspended a rule -- finalized toward the end of the Clinton administration, and already in effect -- that requires government contracting officers to take into consideration a company's record of complying with the law (including tax laws, labor laws, employment laws, environmental laws, antitrust laws and consumer protection laws) before awarding federal dollars. This represents the first step toward revoking the rule altogether -- which business interests have been clamoring for since Bush became president. And it is the first direct shot by the new administration at a major Clinton-era safeguard. Click here for a response from the AFL-CIO.

Unfortunately, the attacks are likely just beginning. According to an article in Tuesday's Washington Post, business interests have been lining up at the White House with lists of rules to rescind and regulatory "reforms" to implement. The Chamber of Commerce has even written a draft executive order (to replace Clinton's E.O. 12866) that would undoubtedly bias the rulemaking process against protections for health, safety, consumers, and the environment. Click here for more information on the likely attacks from the Bush administration.