OIRA: “We’re small but mighty”
From: Pacific Standard
Five Covert Techniques Used by Trump to Cut Government Oversight
How the Trump administration skirts the obstacles that make it hard for federal agencies to deregulate industries.
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This use of the Paperwork Reduction Act may not be a one-off. Rao signaled recently that her staff was likely to continue to wield the law to limit agency initiatives to gather information.
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The budget flows chiefly through the White House budget office—and, in particular, Rao’s regulatory affairs staff—often called the “gatekeeper” of the administrative state, which does such wonkish work that it draws little public attention or pushback. “We’re small but mighty,” Rao said of her staff at an October event at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.
