Should the rule making process continue for regulations that are not related to COVID-19? At least 21 state attorneys general say “no.”
In a letter to the Acting Director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, the attorneys general want the federal bureaucracy to prioritize regulations that are responsive to the pandemic while generally freezing all new and pending regulations.
Against that backdrop, the letter urges the federal government to halt most non-COVID-related rulemaking processes. It also asks the Administration to consider reopening certain already-closed rule comment periods.
I think the request is likely to fall on deaf ears. The 21 states behind the request are more blue than red.
The halt to new rule-making is not unprecedented. The letter points out that President Trump put an nearly identical freeze in place when he took office.
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