Twenty-one Republican senators want President Joe Biden to reconsider revoking his predecessor’s executive order telling federal agencies to publish guidance on how they interpret and apply regulations.
On his first day in the Oval Office, Biden revoked then-President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13891 that required creation of a public database of agency guidance documents, based on a bill in Congress with bipartisan support, the Guidance Out of Darkness (GOOD) Act.
“Without explanation, you described this executive order as one of the ‘harmful policies and directives that threaten to frustrate the federal government’s ability to confront [the (COVID19) pandemic, economic recovery, racial justice, and climate change],’ and you claimed—again without explanation—that its revocation was necessary to provide federal agencies the ‘flexibility to use robust regulatory action to address national priorities,’” the senators told Biden in a Feb. 8 letter.
Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, initiated the letter, which was also signed by Sens. James Lankford (Okla.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Rand Paul (Ky.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), John Cornyn and Ted Cruz (Texas), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), James Risch (Idaho), Mike Lee (Utah), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), and Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.).
The signers noted that the GOOD proposal had been approved once by the House and twice by the Senate Homeland Security Committee in previous Congresses ... [ Read more ]
President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On January 20, 2021, you announced that certain executive orders related to Federal regulations would be revoked, including Executive Order 13891, Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents.[1] Executive Order 13891 required Federal agencies to publish and make available on a searchable database their guidance documents, which explain how an agency will interpret and apply its regulations.[2] Without explanation, you described this executive order as one of the “harmful policies and directives that threaten to frustrate the Federal Government’s ability to confront [the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, economic recovery, racial justice, and climate change],” and you claimed—again without explanation—that its revocation was necessary to provide Federal agencies the “flexibility to use robust regulatory action to address national priorities.”[3] These claims completely ignore the strong bipartisan support for and sound policy reflected in Executive Order 13891.