Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) is demanding that the White House end its prolonged delay of federal safety rules, calling it "unacceptable."

"These are common-sense proposals with real-life consequences," Sen. Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Sylvia Burwell on Tuesday, asking the agency to release long-delayed rules that would protect workers and children.

By law, the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is under the OMB, has 90 days to review upcoming rules. Of the 154 rules currently under review, however, 84 have been there longer than that timeline.

The federal database with records on deceased people is filled with thousands of errors, a GAO study concluded.

Bipartisan legislation to give federal regulators the power to track individual medication moved forward in the House on Wednesday.

A half dozen advisory councils and boards will announce their upcoming meetings in Thursday's version of the Federal Register. Here's what to expect:

The President's Global Development Council, which advises the U.S. Agency for International Development, is scheduled to meet on May 17 to review its role and present on key issues.

New rules and proposals in the Federal Register on Thursday will lay out education funding priorities, regulate chemicals and change the way the government repatriates Native American property. Here are the new regs:

Communications:
The U.S. Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress, is revising a proposal to allow owners of copyrights to audit some fees and statements from cable and satellite operators. 

The House Financial Committee approved half a dozen GOP-backed bills that would dial back certain restrictions on derivatives, the previously unregulated securities seen as one of the culprits that led to the Great Recession, The Washington Post reports.

One Democrat on the panel described the package of bills as “basically a wish-list of the financial industry,” according to The Hill’s On the Money blog.

A new AFL-CIO report concludes that occupational illness and job site accidents lead to 150 deaths a day, and links the toll to stalled regulations and lax enforcement from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), RegWatch reports.

OSHA did, however, conduct a major crackdown at an Idaho assisted living center, issuing $19,000 in fines, according to The Associated Press.

A federal court dealt a major blow to the National Labor Relations Board, striking down regulations requiring employers to display posters promoting union rights, RegWatch reports. 

The oil and gas industry is accusing the Obama administration of side-stepping its procedural rules and rushing a regulation on auto emissions.

In the letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) accused the watchdog of violating portions of the Clean Air Act that require new rules to be published in the Federal Register, the government's official ledger for regulations and notices, before accepting comments from the public and holding public hearings. 

Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Jo White told lawmakers Tuesday that she would hire hundreds of new staffers and bolster economic analysis of forthcoming regulations if the agency’s proposed budget increase is approved.

The SEC is requesting $1.674 billion for the 2014 fiscal year, a roughly 27-percent increase from current levels. While the entire amount would be offset by transaction fees collected from regulated entities, White acknowledged that the request comes at a time when the government faces serious economic challenges. 

Sen. Rockefeller wrote to executives of three major cruise lines asking about their standards and the industry's role in the economy.