Mulvaney is Right to Call for More Money for OMB
From: The Regulatory Review
Expanding a White House office could help shrink the whole federal government.
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Concerns about OIRA’s being understaffed are particularly salient in the wake of President Trump’s signing several aggressive executive orders designed to curb over-regulation. Executive Order 13,771, the centerpiece of President Trump’s deregulatory campaign, implements a “two out, one in” system that requires federal agencies to eliminate two old regulations for every new one they enact. The order also establishes a type of regulatory budget, setting a limit on the regulatory costs that agencies can impose on individuals and businesses each year. Executive Order 13,781 followed suit by calling for a comprehensive reorganization of the executive branch.
Ambitious executive orders like these require significant resources to be implemented properly. Former OIRA officials, like regulatory budgeting guru Jim Tozzi, have voiced concerns about OIRA’s diminished state. OIRA does not “have the staff and does not have the background on implementing a regulatory budget,” Tozzi has said. He also called the implementation of the “two out, one in” system “a huge analytical job.” This makes Mulvaney’s proposal to increase OIRA staffing by 10 employees particularly encouraging.
