Apparently, corporate lobbyists and the GOP’s wealthy corporate donors don’t have nearly enough influence over federal regulations already, so the president has decided to give them a hand.
President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.
In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.
This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.
As Matt Yglesias put it, “You, too, were probably sitting at home thinking ‘government regulations are proffered with too much professionalism and deference to expert opinion, our lobbyists paid for this administration and yet we don’t have 100 percent control over the process.’ Then came Bush ready to save the day.”
That, in a nutshell, is exactly what the White House has done here. Experienced policy experts were helping set regulations on worker safety, for example, at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Through this new executive order, the president has said cut career employees out of the picture, so inexperienced political hands at the White House can gut those worker safety regulations. The same goes for every other federal agency.
A few years ago, former domestic policy advisor John DiIulio said, “There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you’ve got is everything — and I mean everything — being run by the political arm. It’s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis.”
As it turns out, DiIulio was off a bit. He made this comment in 2003, when there were still some civil servants with power in the executive branch. Now everything is being run by the political arm.
Business groups welcomed the executive order, saying it had the potential to reduce what they saw as the burden of federal regulations. This burden is of great concern to many groups, including small businesses, that have given strong political and financial backing to Mr. Bush.
Consumer, labor and environmental groups denounced the executive order, saying it gave too much control to the White House and would hinder agencies’ efforts to protect the public.
Wow, who would have thought it? Corporations who contribute generously to the GOP, are thrilled that they’ll have even more direct influence in shaping federal policy and regulations, far from public view and/or scrutiny, in order to help boost their bottom line. Those concerned with consumer interest, working people, and the environment think it’s a bad idea. You don’t say.
Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said, “The executive order allows the political staff at the White House to dictate decisions on health and safety issues, even if the government’s own impartial experts disagree. This is a terrible way to govern, but great news for special interests.”
Only 721 days to go, only 721 days to go, only 721 days to go….