With the seating of the Biden Administration Pro-Regulators are being heard in the halls of OIRA as result of three recent political appointments therein. Elections matter because President Biden took the helm of the presidency which includes OIRA. President Obama, as is the case with President Biden, had a number of regulatory priorities, in particular healthcare. As a result, in part, of OIRA’s emphasis on economically sound regulations as personified by the use of benefit-cost analyses, the majority of President’s healthcare regulations are still in existence. For this reason the constant criticism by the Progressives of Professor Sunstein for acting in concert with the wishes of the President are not only inconsistent with the recognized concept of Elections Matter but is also not commensurate with the accomplishments to date of the Pro-Regulators.
October 2021 will mark the fiftieth year of continuous centralized regulatory review. During this time period we have witnessed the issuance of a series of landmark Executive Orders including EO 12291, EO 12886, EO 13563 and EO 13371. Each of the aforementioned Executive Orders are based on the two key provisions of the original mandate for centralized regulatory review promulgated in October 1971 which stated:
(1) Proposed and final regulations…should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget.