(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – In what many political observers call a dirty, underhanded tactic, Joe Biden quietly signed an executive order empowering government agencies to introduce new regulations without “review or public scrutiny.”
Biden’s order, which changes how the US government reviews significant regulatory amendments, was signed on April 6.
The new policy allows some new regulations to be imposed without “cost-benefit analysis and mak[es] it more difficult to track them,” The Washington Times reports.
Thus, the president doubled – from $100 million to $200 million – the financial threshold requiring that regulations undergo a government review for their economic impact. He argued the measure was necessary because of inflation.
His order instructs the federal government to change how it executes cost-benefit analyses for new regulations.
“Those proposed changes, which have not been finalized, would make the government less objective and more likely to advocate for regulations issued by the administration,” the report stresses, quoting the views of economic analysts.
“[Biden’s order provides for] fewer challenges to rules, less transparency and a freer hand for the executive branch to act without the legislature and the judiciary checking them,” commented Ryan Young, a Competitive Enterprise Institute senior economist.
He pointed out that the new $200 million threshold already exempted specific new regulations from scrutiny.
According to his calculations, in 2023 alone, the Biden administration will issue only 18 economically significant rules over the higher threshold. In 2022, there were 43 rules under the $100 million point.
“That’s a fair amount of rules that are now going to be flying under the radar,” Young said.
So far, only a single out of nine new regulations issued since April by the Democrat administration has qualified for scrutiny as per the $200 million threshold.
The regulation, introduced on June 5, stipulated annual adjustments to Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug benefits, Medicare Cost Plans, and other federal benefits for older Americans.
The eight new regulations that evaded extra review provide rules for a health care benefits program for US Postal Service employees and higher US State Department visa fees for students, tourists, and others.
“Criticism of Mr. Biden’s regulatory push is increasing. Republicans and other critics have accused Mr. Biden of executive branch overreach, and the Supreme Court has sometimes sided with them,” the Times points out.
President Biden signed the order on April 6. It significantly altered how the government reviews major regulatory changes, allowing some new regulations to escape cost-benefit analysis and making it more difficult to track them. – https://t.co/5OstWwiBIy
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 5, 2023
