Trump's Terminus, Biden's Beginnings, and Congressional Checks.
Facebook ‌ Twitter ‌

Regulation Digest
January 27, 2021
Vol. 10, No. 3
Editor: Bryce Chinault

Subscribe | Support
Marketplace of Ideas
GW Regulatory Studies Center
- The Regulators' New Marching Orders, Susan Dudley
- Into the Void, Bridget Dooling
- Congressional Review Act Rules & Charts

AEI
- Benefiting consumers or targeting profits?, Bronwyn Howell
- Regulating Big Tech, Claude Barfield

American Prospect
- Biden’s Executive Actions Just Scratch the Surface, David Dayen
- The Centerpiece Battle Over Financial Reform Remains Unsettled, Robert Kuttner

Brookings Institution
- The Regulatory Savvy of Biden’s Early Executive Actions, Bridget Dooling
- The day after Section 230, Derek Bambauer
- Time for a U.S.—EU digital alliance, Tom Wheeler

Cato Institute
- Gig Economy Regulation, Matthew Feeney & Rachel Chiu
- Section 230, Event

CAP
- Ocean & Climate Agenda, Jean Flemma, et al.

CPR
- The Controversial CRA, Daniel Farber
- Rethinking Presidential Administration, Daniel Farber

CEI
- President Biden Moves Quickly, Myron Ebell
- Check on Regulatory Excess, Marlo Lewis
- “Modernizing Regulatory Review”, Wayne Crews

Federalist Society
- What Biden May Bring for Tech, Jennifer Huddleston
- New FAA Drone Rules, Brent Skorup
- EPA's BCA & Science Transparency, Event
- Fuel Economy Standards: Lowering Pollution?, Video

Free State Fdn.
- Restoring Internet Freedom, Randy May
- The FCC’s Marketplace Report, Randy May, et al.

GAO
- Federal Rulemaking

Inst. for Policy Integrity
- SAFE Rule, Richard Revesz, et al.
- Bostock & the End of the Climate Change Double Standard, Richard Revesz

Manhattan Institute
- Administrative Rulemaking, James Copland
- Tax&Regulate, Milton Ezrati

Mercatus Center
- 17 policy proposals for the Biden team
- HHS’s SUNSET Regulation, James Broughel
- Dynamic Competition in Digital Markets, Tracy Miller & Trace Mitchell

NBER
- Regulation & Innovation, Philippe Aghion, et al.
- Globalization & GHGs, Claire Brunel & Arik Levinson

Progressive Policy Inst.
- Trump, Big Tech, & Free Speech, Alec Stapp

Reason
- Tech Policies We Should Expect, Andrea O'Sullivan
- What the FCC Has Done Right, Ajit Pai & Nick Gillespie

R Street Institute
- Low-Quality Rulemaking, Philip Rossetti
- Trump’s climate rule is dead, Josiah Neeley

RFF
- Social Cost of Carbon, Richard Newell & Maureen Cropper

SBCA
- Certain Impacts in Benefit-Cost Analysis, Daniel Acland

SSRN
- Regulation of Algorithmic Tools, Chris Yoo & Alicia Lai
- Performance-Based Regulation, Dennis Weisman
- Regulatory Costs from Revealed Preferences, Adrien Alvero, et al.

The Regulatory Review
- The Fair Price of Fossil Fuel, Hannah Pugh
- Taking Trust in Gov't Seriously, Maria De Benedetto
- Antitrust Remedies for Big Tech, Herbert Hovenkamp

Tech Policy Institute
- FCC's Enhanced Role of Economics, Thomas Lenard

Yale Journal on Reg.
- Addressing Midnight Rules, Richard Pierce
- AdLaw SSRN Reading List, Christopher Walker
- Algorithmic Governance, David Rubenstein
- PRA May Be Delaying Tax Season, Sam Wice

American Action Forum
- Trump Ends with $40B in Reg Costs, Dan Bosch
- Trump Midnight Regulations, Dan Goldbeck
- Day One Regulatory Actions, Dan Bosch
Editor's Note: We are mourning the loss of our colleague and friend Jerry Ellig, who passed away on January 20. If you were friends with Jerry, which is to say if you knew him, we'd welcome hearing what he meant to you.
Rulemaking Highlights
COVID-19 Related Actions

CDC: Negative Test Requirement
CFPB: Prioritized Assessments
EOP: Economic Relief, Access to Care, Organizing & Mobilizing, Travel Safety, Data-Driven Response, and Pandemic Testing Board
Executive Actions (Biden)

Modernizing Regulatory Review
This Memo reaffirms the basic principles set forth in Executive Orders (EOs) 12866 & 13563, and seeks recommendations to modernize regulatory review.

Protecting the Federal Workforce
EO 14003 revokes EO 13957 which created a new Schedule F excepted service category.

Revocation of Certain Executive Orders
EO 13992 revokes EOs 13771, 13777, 13875, 13891, 13892, and 13893.

Public Health and the Environment
EO 13990 directs agencies to immediately review all actions during the last four years that conflict with certain national objectives, and to immediately commence work to confront the climate crisis.

Executive Actions (Trump)

Protecting Americans From Overcriminalization
EO 13980 "alleviates regulatory burdens on Americans by ensuring that they have notice of potential criminal liability for violations and focusing criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses on the most culpable individuals."

Democratic Accountability in Agency Rulemaking
EO 13979 requires agency rules to be signed by a senior appointee.

Agency Actions

Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule
The Dept. of Health & Human Services issued a notice of proposed rulemaking modifying health privacy rules that "may impede the transition to value-based health care by limiting care coordination among individuals and covered entities." Comments due March 22.
The Opinion Section
Susan Dudley: Two Rules President Biden Needs to Make His Ambitious Environmental Agenda Successful
Jonathan Adler: Will Democrats Learn to Love the Congressional Review Act?
Todd Gaziano & Angela Erickson: Who Gets to Make the Rules? Washington May Finally Get It Right
Cass Sunstein: Biden Chooses a Pragmatic Path for Regulation and Biden Climate Regulation Is About to Get Tougher
Tyler Cowen: Regulate Cryptocurrencies? Not Yet
Richard Williams: When Scientific Data is Transparent, We All Benefit
Richard Revesz: Censored Science, the CRA, and the End of Meta-Deregulation
James Broughel: Biden Opens Floodgates for More Regulations & Trump's Enduring Legacy on Regulation
WSJ Editorial: Biden’s Fossil-Fuel Freeze
Bethany Davis Noll & Stuart Shapiro: How the Biden Administration Can Undo Trump’s Regulatory Policies
Mick Mulvaney & Joe Grogan: Biden Gives Regulators a Free and Heavy Hand
Nicholas Sargen: 3 ways Biden Will Reshape Regulatory Policy
Jack Lienke: Azar’s ‘Sunset Rule’ Will Bring a Dangerous New Dawn for Health Regulation
C. Boyden Gray: Electric Car Quotas Have a High Cost
Andy Kessler: Online Speech Wars Are Here to Stay
Tim Carney: There’s a New Bank Regulation to Bar Discrimination in Lending. Biden will Likely Overturn it
Wayne Crews: Biden Repudiates Trump Era with Revocation of Certain Executive Orders
Steven Malanga: How Biden’s Executive Orders Will Undo Trump’s Business-Friendly Policies
Lanhee Chen & James Capretta: We Can Improve Health Care. It Just Takes Compromise.
Neil Eggleston & Alexa Kissinger: How to Fix 4 Years of Trump’s War Against Government
Eric Posner: Why Joe Biden Must Not Shy Away From the Full Power of the Presidency
Stan Meiburg: Restoring the EPA: Lessons From the Past
Rupert Darwall: Fettering Biden’s Administrative State
In the News
Congress & Regulatory Reform
  • Congressional Democrats face challenges in repealing Wall Street-friendly rules, Reuters
  • Measuring the Trump administration’s goal of decreasing agency regulations, Federal News Network
  • Democrats have these 7 last-minute Trump admin regulations in their sights, Business Insider
  • Trump regulations are on chopping block in Biden admin, Law 360
  • Democratic Congress Prepares to Take On Big Tech, New York Times
  • The Game-Changing Biden Order You Haven’t Heard About, Huffington Post
Financial Markets & Housing
  • Biden’s Candidate for SEC Chairman Is Expected to Be Tough on Companies, Wall Street Journal
  • Progressives Are Seething Over Biden’s Likely Pick for Banking Regulator, New York Times
  • When SPACs Attack! A New Force Is Invading Wall Street., Wall Street Journal
Energy & Environment
  • Here Are All the Climate Actions Biden Took on Day One, Scientific American
  • ‘Energy’ Is Its Name. But What Can the DOE Actually Do on Climate?, New York Times
  • Biden's Carbon Cost Calculation Key Step In Climate Agenda, Law 360
  • This one number could alter how the US handles climate change, Grist
  • Restoring Environmental Rules Rolled Back by Trump Could Take Years, New York Times
  • Biden orders sweeping review of Trump regulations, E&E News
  • Court dumps Trump ‘Affordable Clean Energy’ plan, Roll Call
  • Biden’s Climate-Change Policy Targets Oil Industry, Wall Street Journal
  • President Biden Quickly Rejoined Paris Climate Accord. Meeting the Emissions Goals Will Be Harder., Wall Street Journal
  • The Battle Lines Are Forming in Biden’s Climate Push, New York Times
Health & Safety
  • Biden Tells OSHA to Issue New Covid-19 Guidance to Employers, New York Times
  • Hospitals drag feet on new regulations to disclose costs of medical services, Washington Post
  • Auto Safety Agency Faces Calls for Overhaul as Biden Presidency Begins, New York Times
Technology
  • President Biden’s Tech To-Do List, New York Times
  • President Biden's Financial Team Will Clarify Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Regulations, Nasdaq
If you found this information helpful, please consider a donation to the GW Regulatory Studies Center, and forward this email to your colleagues and friends.
go.gwu.edu/regstudies
Facebook ‌ Twitter ‌