President Donald Trump’s ordered freeze on several Barack Obama-era regulations have taken effect and nowadays, the Federal Register, where proposed rules are published, has mostly turned into a daily announcement of upcoming meetings.
Trump’s freeze has led to delays in implementation of Obama-fueled rules at Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other agencies, with the result oftentimes giving American businesses a hiatus from implementation and compliance costs.
At the EEOC, for example, a rule requiring federal agencies to put in place hiring policies that favor individuals with disabilities was put on hold – very likely giving private businesses that contract with the government some much-needed breathing space on the burdens of compliance.
Other freezes include ones with the Federal Railroad Administration that Democrats said were safety oriented, but critics called unnecessary, redundant and costly, and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would have changed how farmers could treat animals raised for organic meat.
From the Hill:
“Trump’s regulatory freeze began with a government-wide memo that Reince Priebus, his chief of staff, sent on Jan. 20. The memo advised agency heads to delay rules that had already been published for at least 60 days, pushing most rules back until March 21.
“The effect of Trump’s orders has been noticeable in the Federal Register, the daily docket where new and proposed regulations from government agencies are published.
“Before Trump took office, the register would often include dozens of regulations at various stages of completion.
“Now the docket is short and mostly includes notices about public meetings.”
