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November 2008
Bush Admin Pushes Through Last-Minute Deregulation that May Be Hard to Undo
The Bush administration is quietly trying to push through a wide array of federal regulations before President Bush leaves office in January. Up to ninety proposed regulations could be finalized, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment. We speak to Matthew Madia of the watchdog group OMB Watch.
Matthew Madia
regulatory policy analyst at OMB Watch, a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.
Up to ninety proposed regulations could be finalized by the outgoing administration, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment. According to the Washington Post, the new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era. They include rules that could weaken workplace safety protections, allow local police to spy in the so-called war on terror and make it easier for federal agencies to ignore the Endangered Species Act.
While its nothing new for outgoing administrations to try and enact these so-called midnight regulations, the Bush administration has accelerated the process to ensure the changes it wants will be finalized by November 22nd. Thats sixty days before the next administration takes control. Most federal rules go into effect sixty days after theyve been finalized, and it would be a major bureaucratic undertaking for the Obama administration to reverse federal rules already in effect.
In order for a rule to—in order for the Bush administration to really tie the hands of the Obama administration, they need to make sure that not only are all these rules final, but theyre in effect. And by law, an agency needs to wait either thirty or sixty days—as you said, in most cases, sixty days—before a rule takes effect. So if a rules not effective by January 20th, then the Obama administration could come in and suspend the rule. So what the Bush administration is trying to do is make sure that doesnt happen.
The rules really cover a broad array of topics. One rule could make it harder for employees to claim leave when theyre sick or when a family member is sick. A lot of the rules would affect the environment. One makes it easier for mining companies to dump the waste for mountaintop mining into rivers and streams. Some of the rules affect traffic safety. One would allow truck drivers to drive for longer, for longer consecutive hours, and that puts both the truck driver at risk and the motorists at risk.
So, we see a lot of rules mostly rolling back existing requirements on industry, not in the name of job creation or in the name of increased competitiveness, just sort of to remove that government oversight, to widen the gap between government and business. And it could allow businesses to pollute more or to infringe upon their employees rights.
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