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."

By Adam Hughes and Craig Jennings, OMB Watch
Published February 23, 2007 at TomPaine.com
President Bush is planning on raising taxes, but he won't come out and say it. In fact, he has continued to loudly proclaim he can balance the federal budget by 2012 and not raise taxes one cent. His rhetoric on the budget is misleading, if not outright deceitful, precisely when having an honest discussion is paramount to implementing policies to confront the long-term fiscal challenges our nation faces.

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2007—Public statements by opponents of grassroots lobbying disclosure, which would bring transparency to big money grassroots lobbying campaigns, have misled Americans by inaccurately claiming that potential proposals are intended to silence criticism of Congress and are "a plot by Washington insiders" to shut out diverse viewpoints.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2007—OMB Watch today issued an analysis of President George W. Bush's Fiscal Year 2008 budget request. The analysis shows that the president's budget continues his longstanding efforts to divert resources away from needed domestic investment and reinforces doubts that the president's promise to balance the federal budget by 2012 is plausible.