The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum detailing how federal independent agencies are to comply with Section 3 of President Trump’s Executive Order 14215, Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies requiring that for all “regulatory actions” independent agencies shall adhere to the same regulatory principles and procedural requirements—including OIRA review of regulatory actions—followed by cabinet departments. This is a key part of realizing the President’s vision of a unitary executive.
The independent federal agencies covered by EO 14215 and this implementing OMB Memorandum include the NLRB, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the CFTC, the CFPB, the FDIC, and “any” agency “designated by statute as a Federal independent agency or commission.” The independent agency “regulatory actions” covered by this OMB memorandum are broadly defined to include “any substantive action by an agency (normally published in the Federal Register) that promulgates or is expected to lead to the promulgation of a final rule or regulation, including notices of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rulemaking, and notices of proposed rulemaking. This definition includes policies with impacts that are regulatory, deregulatory, or transfer resources from one entity to another.”
Covered regulatory actions also include independent agency “guidance documents, whether published in the Federal Register or elsewhere.” Independent agencies were to begin compliance April 17th with full compliance required by Monday, April 21st.