LAME-DUCK OBAMA RUSHES $44
BILLION IN 'MIDNIGHT' REGULATIONS, 'The
fate of many of these measures lies with the next Congress and the incoming
administration'.
REPORT: Obama Rushes $44 Billion Worth Of Regs Before Leaving Office By
Michael Bastasch, 12/1/16
The
Obama administration could end up finalizing $75 billion worth of regulations
before and after the president leaves office in January, according to a new
report.
That includes $44 billion worth of
“midnight” regulations published after election day, but before President
Barack Obama leaves office on January 21. The right-leaning American Action
Forum (AAF) compiled a list of 40 rules scheduled to be
published in the Federal Register since
November 2016.
“The $75 billion estimate contains
roughly 40 monetized figures out of what will be hundreds of potential final
rules,” Sam Batkins, AAF’s director of regulatory policy, wrote in a report on
potential midnight regulations.
“It is unlikely regulators in the
Obama Administration will have the opportunity to enact the full slate listed
here,” Batkins wrote. “Still, there is a degree of uncertainty. The public does
not know the cost of proposed rulemakings not yet published, nor the countless
other rules that will be final in the coming weeks.”
Batkins’ list of upcoming
regulations includes Department of Energy (DOE) regulations for home efficiency
standards (a $5.5 billion price tag) and power supplies ($4.6 billion). DOE is
also slated to publish really expensive conservation standards for boilers and
ovens (each has a $800 million plus price tag).
The most expensive rule Batkins
listed is a $13.3 billion Department of Health and
Human Services rule to provide further protections
for human test subjects.
The Obama administration has already
gotten its main regulatory goals on the books, but federal agencies are still
working to finish up all the regulations they can before President-elect Donald
Trump takes office. Most of these regulations probably won’t go into effect.
Trump has promised to roll back many Obama-era
regulations, especially those imposed by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“On energy, I will cancel
job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy – including shale
energy and clean coal – creating many millions of high-paying jobs,” Trump said
in a video released by his transition team detailing executive actions the
incoming president can issue the first day of his presidency.
While repealing regulations can take
months or even years, regulatory experts have identified 150 rules Trump could
repeal through executive orders, legislation or further rulemaking.
“This is the final regulatory agenda
the administration will release,” Batkins wrote. “Its authors know too well
that everything not yet final could come under scrutiny from President-elect
Trump and the Republican Congress next year.”
“Although this agenda puts the
finishing touches on what was an active eight years for regulators, the fate of
many of these measures lies with the next Congress and the incoming
administration,” Batkins wrote.
Federal agencies also list billions
of dollars worth of rules scheduled for publishing after Obama leaves office.
Those may not be published when Trump takes over.
“The agenda might reveal $44 billion
in midnight regulations today, but they could vanish quickly in a series of
votes or executive actions in 2017,” he wrote.
http://www.wnd.com/2016/12/lame-duck-obama-rushes-44-billion-in-midnight-regulations/
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