Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from the federal agencies, Capitol Hill, the courts and beyond. It’s Monday evening here in Washington where President Trump is showing no signs of slowing down. 

Here’s the latest. 

 

THE BIG STORY 

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order that would require agencies to revoke two regulations for every new rule they want to issue.

The executive order is aimed at dramatically rolling back federal regulations, one of his top campaign promises.

Trump met with a handful of small business owners at the White House prior to signing the order 

He called the executive order “a big one,” according to a pool report.

{mosads}”We want to make … life easier for small businesses,” he said, adding that it would also benefit large businesses. “There can’t be any discrimination.”

The order requires agencies to control the costs of all new rules within their budget. Agencies are also prohibited from imposing any new costs in finalizing or repealing a rule for the remainder of 2017 unless that cost is offset by the repeal of two existing regulations.

Trump’s order does make exceptions for emergencies and national security.

Starting in 2018, the order calls on the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget to give each agency a budget target for how much it can increase regulatory costs or cut regulatory costs.

Senior administration officials touted it as the “most significant administrative action in the world of regulatory reform since President Reagan created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in 1981.”

OIRA is tasked with reviewing and signing off on all proposed and final rules before they are published in the Federal Register.

Trump on Monday said he wasn’t done targeting regulations, reiterating his campaign promise to try and cut 75 percent of rules.

“The American dream is back,” he said.

“This isn’t a knock on President Obama; this is a knock on many president[s] preceding me,” he continued, referring to the burdens on businesses. “Regulation has been horrible for big business, but it’s been worse for small business.”

The president has especially been critical of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, calling it a “disaster.”

“We’re going to be doing a big number on Dodd-Frank,” he vowed.

Regulatory experts argue the “one in, two out” plan will in most cases kick in when an agency issues a rulemaking. But there is uncertainty of how that would work, since the order comes amid a regulatory freeze imposed on agencies by the new administration.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus sent a memo to agency heads hours after the inauguration advising them not to issue any more regulations. 

In an email to The Hill, Brian Mannix, a research professor at George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center said there would need to be an exception to, if not an actual thaw, in the regulatory freeze before Trump’s order can take effect.

“Exceptions are inevitable anyway, for rules that are needed to meet deadlines – whether to comply with some legal requirement, or to permit manufacturers to make compliant products, or just to allow hunting seasons to begin on time,” he said.  “My guess is that OMB/OIRA will be giving agencies guidance on how the provisions of the new E.O. [executive order] will be implemented.”

The U.S. isn’t the first country to impose such a restriction on regulators. Trump could use similar policies in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom as a model for his order. 

Read the full story here.

 

ON TAP FOR TUESDAY 

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to vote on the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for attorney general. 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will meet to vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the secretary of Education. 

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing to discuss fraud and abuse under the Affordable Care Act. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to discuss existing problems with Medicaid and how to strengthen the program.

 

TOMORROW’S REGS TODAY

President Trump’s regulatory moratorium is delaying new rules for ceiling fans and penalties for nuclear safety violations in Tuesday’s edition of the Federal Register.

Take a look:

–The Department of Energy (DOE) will delay Obama-era efficiency rules for ceiling fans.

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy issued the energy conservation standards for ceiling fans on Jan. 19, the day before President Trump assumed office. The next day, after Trump’s Inauguration, the White House issued a regulatory moratorium, which also required federal agencies to delay recently published rules that had not yet taken effect.

The ceiling fan standards will now go into effect on March 21.

–The Department of Energy (DOE) will delay new penalties for nuclear safety violations.

The Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Safety Enforcement increased the civil penalties for companies that break whistleblower protections for employees who report dangerous conditions in December. But the agency will delay the rule for 60 days, as required by Trump’s moratorium on regulations.

The changes are now set to go into effect on March 21.

–The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will raise the fines against companies that violate notice-posting requirements.

The new fine will be $534 per violation. This comes in spite of Trump’s regulatory moratorium.

The changes go into effect in 30 days.

 

NEWS RIGHT NOW

GOP members offer resolution to repeal ‘blacklisting’ labor rule

Trump’s regulatory freeze goes further than Obama’s

Trump: We will do a ‘big number’ to Dodd-Frank

McConnell pushes for action on ‘harmful’ coal-mining rule

Auto dealers want Trump to weaken car emissions rules

Giffords: Toddlers with guns more dangerous than refugees

Senate Democrats block vote on Trump Treasury pick

McConnell pushes for action on ‘harmful’ coal-mining rule

Trump will ‘definitely’ pull out of Paris climate deal, ex-aide says

Lawyer: No timetable for allowing Dakota Access construction

 

BY THE NUMBERS

14: Rules

0: Proposed rules

(Source: Federal Register) 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Regulation has actually been horrible for big business, but it’s been worse for small business. Dodd-Frank is a disaster,” said President Trump, who promised Monday to “do a number” to the Wall Street reform law.