House GOP members blast White House’s lack of regulatory agenda

Washington – Republican House members, in response to the Obama administration's failure to publish what they consider a timely regulatory agenda, have accused the White House of playing "regulatory hide-and-seek."

A list of “economically significant” regulations being pursued by federal agencies is required to be published twice a year by the Office of Management and Budget. The last agenda issued was the fall 2011 agenda, published Jan. 20, 2012. As of Nov. 7, neither the spring 2012 nor the fall 2012 agenda had been published.

In an Oct. 25 letter (.pdf file) to OMB, Republican members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee called on the administration to explain why the spring agenda was not published and when it intends to issue the fall agenda.

Following the letter, committee chair Rep. John Kline (R-MN) issued a statement Nov. 1 suggesting President Barack Obama was “determined to keep his plans for new regulations secret” and was “stonewalling” congressional oversight.

At press time, representatives from OMB had not responded to requests for comment.