Federal Rulemaking

Congressional oversight. Oversight of the executive branch is one of Congress's main responsibilities. In recent years, Congress has explored ways to modernize its operations in this area, including regulatory oversight and congressional legal representation for working with the executive branch. But there are other options that Congress could consider to modify how it fulfills its oversight duties. It could create new regulatory or legal offices, oversight processes, or regulatory requirements—or change existing ones.  

Regulatory Reporting. Individuals and businesses may be required to file the same financial data with different federal regulatory agencies. Submitting data once electronically and sharing automatically with multiple agencies at the same time may be more efficient. But the United States doesn't have a regulatory reporting system with government-wide data standards that would help automate data sharing. The Financial Data Transparency Act is a step toward building data standards among some regulatory agencies. Prior government-wide efforts to standardize other federal data show that agency collaboration and data governance policies may be helpful moving forward. 

Paperwork burden. Each year, eligible Americans miss out on billions of dollars in food aid, financial assistance, and other federal benefits, partly due to burdensome paperwork requirements. Agencies estimate the time and resources it takes to provide information on applications and other forms to help manage this burden. The law requires agencies to solicit public input on their estimates to validate them. But while agencies often consulted the public via stakeholder and board meetings, they often did not explicitly ask for input on estimates. Further, agencies could benefit from better guidance from OMB on how to evaluate, report, and reduce these burdens. 

Emerging technologies. Regulatory agencies can face challenges in effectively and efficiently regulating new technologies, especially given how quickly some of these technologies are brought to market. At times, agencies may need to reassess their regulatory authorities to ensure they have the ability to regulate these products without stifling innovation. They can also take steps to be more transparent about their regulatory efforts.  

Regulatory design. Federal agencies can design their regulations in many ways. For example, some regulatory designs establish an outcome but allow flexibility in how to achieve it, while others are more prescriptive and require certain technologies or actions. Some key considerations for regulatory design and enforcement can help guide agencies in developing rules to achieve intended policy outcomes. 

Midnight rulemaking. Federal agencies may issue more regulations shortly before a president leaves office—i.e., "midnight rulemaking." A review of the Clinton, Bush, Obama, and the first Trump administrations found that, in the last 120 days of these administrations, agencies published about 2.5 times as many regulations. Congress and individuals outside of the government have expressed concerns that these rules may be rushed through analytical and procedural rulemaking requirements, including the Congressional Review Act. Both Congress and agencies can take actions to better ensure compliance with these requirements.

Expedited rulemaking. Federal agencies are usually required to publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register and solicit public comments before finalizing regulations. However, there are exceptions to expedite rulemaking in certain circumstances, such as for an emergency or other “good cause.” Although agencies often request public comments on rules they’ve expedited, they do not always respond to these comments.