The OIRA Module: Published Research

From: Administrative Conference of the United States

Submitted by Frank Massaro

This post is part of the ACUS Intern Blog Series. This article was authored by Victoria Barnard, a 2L at the George Washington University Law School. The views expressed below are those of the author and do not represent the views of ACUS or the Federal Government.

The first edition of ACUS’s Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook, published in 1985, filled gaps in the public’s understanding of the regulatory processes by which federal government agencies operate. It also served as an invaluable resource for agency officials, by centralizing publication of analysis, legislative history, related regulations, and other references for 18 procedural statutes, including the Administrative Procedure Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Paperwork Reduction Act.

From: Brookings

Rachel Augustine Potter

While talk of whether Trump is or is not “draining the swamp” of lobbyists continues in Washington (and on Twitter), one form of lobbying—lobbying the White House about regulations—has quietly flown under the radar. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)—the tiny White House office that serves as a clearinghouse for agency rules—regularly holds private meetings with stakeholders about regulations that are under development. These meetings are referred to by the anodyne-sounding term “12866 meetings” (in reference to Executive Order 12866, which governs regulatory review), but make no mistake about it—these meetings are regulatory lobbying pure and simple.

From: US GAO | Watchblog

The United States faces a highly challenging fiscal future. Absent change in policy, the federal fiscal path is unsustainable—debt is growing faster than the economy (GDP). This springs from the continuing gap between the amount of money the federal government collects in revenue, and the amount it spends—i.e., the federal deficit.

Today we issued an update on the fiscal condition of the U.S. government as of the end of FY 2017—and its likely fiscal future if policies don’t change.

The WatchBlog explores the nation’s fiscal health. Listen to our podcast with Susan Irving, our expert on debt and fiscal issues, then read on for more.

Editor’s Note: See also The Data Access Act, the Data Quality Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act: Three Cornerstones of Evidence-Based Rulemaking and Transparency in Regulatory Science: A History Lesson.

From: Regulatory Pacesetters

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The Data Access Act and the Data Quality Act were passed because notwithstanding continued requests by members of Congress for OMB to comply with the aforementioned statutes OMB refused to comply with the prevailing statute.

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From: Regulatory Pacesetters

American Association for the Advancement of Science-Federal Focus Symposium on Data Access

In order to encourage discussion and debate on the Data Access issue, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Federal Focus, Inc. jointly sponsored a symposium on the Data Access issue on February 26, 1999, in Washington, D.C. Specific focus of the discussion was on the data provisions contained in the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 105-277) and conference report. Under that Act, OMB was required to amend its Circular A-110 (“Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations”) to make publicly-funded research data available to the public through requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Editor’s Note: See also OMB Review of IRS Regulations.

From: TaxProf Blog | Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review And Roundup

By Ari Glogower

This week, Ari Glogower (Ohio State) reviews a new work by Clint Wallace (South Carolina), Centralized Review of Tax Regulations, 70 Ala. L. Rev. __ (2018).

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The work is important and timely, as policymakers reassess the question of executive oversight over tax regulations. Just a few weeks ago (and around the time the draft of this Article was posted), Treasury and OMB announced a new framework for OIRA review of tax regulations, that is likely to extend centralized review to a broader range of regulations, in accordance with the general criteria outlined in EO 12866.

From: The Regulatory Review

Michael A. Livermore

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The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and the practice of regulatory impact assessment can counteract these effects. These institutions were created during a different political time, roughly from the Nixon Administration through the Ronald Reagan–George H.W. Bush years—a period characterized by consistent Republican control of the presidency (with the exception of the short Carter Administration) and consistent Democratic control of Congress.

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From: E&E News | Greenwire

Maxine Joselow, E&E News reporter
Jim Tozzi, head of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, is known for helping to create the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Administrative Conference of the United States

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“I’m not behind it,” Tozzi said in an interview about the Pruitt proposal. “When I looked at that, it looked like they were putting in a new regulatory regime. Before you put in a new regulatory regime, you should see what the existing regulatory regime does.”

From: The Regulatory Review

Christopher J. Walker and Melissa F. Wasserman

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To borrow from Dan Farber and Anne Joseph O’Connell, Justice Kagan’s reference to administrative law judges (ALJs) indicates the “lost world” of agency adjudication—the formal adjudication set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) that then-Professor Kagan no doubt taught in her administrative law classes. Today, however, most formal-like agency adjudication occurs outside of the APA’s provisions for formal adjudication—not before ALJs but under the auspices of a variety of other administrative judges, hearing officers, and other agency personnel. This is the new world of agency adjudication.

Editor’s Note: For the history of White House regulatory review from its origins in the Nixon Administration through the founding of OIRA, see here.

From: The Regulatory Review

Scholars and industry representatives highlight takeaways from conference on new regulatory developments.

Since the Nixon Administration, some half a century ago, the U.S. government has made concerted efforts to understand the impact of regulations on society through systematic and comprehensive analysis.