Trump has rolled back more rules than any president — watchdog
Source: Maxine Joselow, E&E News reporter • Posted: Wednesday, November 29, 2017
The agenda, released in July, listed 457 rulemakings as withdrawn, the group Public Citizen said in a report released today. The number surpasses a 2002 record of 386 withdrawn rules.
The latest issue of the Unified Agenda included mostly notices to scrap or revise regulations, a sharp contrast to the Obama years (Greenwire, July 20).
The Interior Department and the Department of Health and Human Services withdrew the most rulemakings of all agencies, the Public Citizen report found.
Withdrawn Interior rules include actions related to the protection of 15 endangered species and the conservation of Florida’s Biscayne Bay.
“Administration officials would have you believe that the rulemakings they terminated were of little importance to the public,” said Michael Tanglis, senior researcher for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, who authored the report.
“But these rulemakings would have reduced workplace accidents, prevented fires and explosions, and protected the rights of same-gender couples,” Tanglis said. “These outcomes matter, especially to Americans who needed these protections.”
Observers expect the Trump administration to release its second Unified Agenda soon. President Obama was known to release the report around Thanksgiving.