Here's an OMB Watch update on President Bush's recent changes to the regulatory process and Congress's efforts to stop them: Congress Fails to Mitigate Executive Order's Damaging Impacts In January, President Bush made significant changes to the regulatory process by issuing Executive Order 13422. ( href="http://ga6.org/ct/H1A2jo41vc9H/">Click here for background.) Since then, OMB Watch has voiced its opposition to E.O. 13422 for three primary reasons:

• It requires agency regulatory policy officers to be presidential appointees and gives them new power to start and stop regulations.
• It shifts the focus for promulgating regulations from the identification of a problem like threats to public health to the identification of a "specific market failure."
• It allows the White House to exert control over agency guidance documents — subjecting a new class of information to political considerations and possible delay.

On June 28, the House passed the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, FY 2008, and included an amendment which would have prevented the White House from spending money to implement any part of E.O. 13422. Although the bill would not have fully countered the E.O.'s effects, it would have eliminated some White House interference in agencies' work this year. The amendment was offered on the House floor by Reps. Brad Miller (D-NC) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA). The inclusion of Miller and Sanchez's amendment created a golden opportunity for the Senate to follow suit and pass a defunding provision of its own. OMB Watch asked you to contact your senators and urge them to pass such a provision and send a clear signal to Bush that his attempts to erode our public safety net would not go unnoticed. And you responded whole-heartedly. More than 2,000 citizens sent emails through our website to their senators. A similar effort by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group that advocates for scientific integrity in public policy, generated more than 10,000 phone calls. However, the Senate never debated or voted on their version of the Financial Services appropriations bill. Congress was unable to complete its work on individual appropriations bills and instead, resorted to a consolidated, or omnibus, bill in order to avoid a government shut down. Unfortunately, when preparing the omnibus bill, the Democratic leadership decided to remove the Miller/Sanchez provision in spite of the thousands of citizens who had called on their representatives to take action. The omnibus appropriations bill cleared both the House and Senate, and is expected to be signed by the president this week. OMB Watch is disappointed that Congress was unable to combat Bush's efforts to expand White House interference in the regulatory process. On the amendment defunding E.O. 13422 (along with a number of other contentious provisions), the Democratic leadership lacked the broad congressional support necessary to overcome the Bush administration's attacks on the regulatory process. What's next? OMB Watch will continue to monitor developments on E.O. 13422 and look for ways to oppose it whenever possible. Your voice will continue to be critical in proving public opposition to Bush's changes and calling on Congress to create a more responsive regulatory system that reflects the positive role government can play in our society. Thank you for your continued support.