Sponsors (12)
The bill centralizes accountability and clarifies what counts as a rule—giving political appointees and OIRA clearer oversight and consistency—at the cost of slower, potentially politicized rulemaking and added administrative and security risks.
Federal agencies, regulated parties, and the public: Major rules will require sign-off by Senate-confirmed appointees and increased OIRA oversight, raising political accountability and making high-level responsibility for significant regulatory choices clearer.
Agencies and regulated entities (including state governments): OIRA must provide guidance and monitor compliance, likely improving cross-agency consistency and reducing arbitrary or inconsistent regulatory interpretations.
State and local governments and regulated parties: The bill narrows and clarifies which instruments qualify as 'rules,' reducing regulatory uncertainty about what is subject to formal rulemaking procedures.
Consumers, businesses, taxpayers, and agency staff: Requiring political sign-offs and stronger central review is likely to slow or block some rulemakings and increase administrative burden and costs for agencies and regulated parties.
Career agency staff and federal employees: Concentrating nondelegable decisions with Senate-confirmed agency heads risks politicizing technical regulatory decisions and reducing the authority and discretion of career experts.
State governments and security-related entities: Routing public-notification exemption requests through OIRA and publishing limited notice could risk exposing sensitive security determinations or create legal vulnerabilities if redaction is inadequate.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires APA notice-and-comment rulemakings to be initiated by senior political appointees and signed by Senate‑confirmed Presidential appointees, with a narrow safety/security exception and OIRA oversight.
Official title: To require the head of an agency to issue and sign any rule issued by that agency, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 15, 2025 by Benjamin Cline · Last progress January 15, 2025
Requires that rules issued under the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice-and-comment process be initiated and signed by political appointees: a senior appointee must open rulemakings and a Senate‑confirmed Presidential appointee must sign final rules, with a narrow, publishable exception for immediate public safety or security needs. Agency heads must oversee compliance and OIRA must issue guidance and monitor implementation; definitions and scope of covered rules and covered officials are specified.