GW Regulatory Studies Podcast

In April 2024, federal agencies broke records by issuing an unprecedented number of significant final rules. The surge of rules is related to the expectation that rules finalized later in the year may be at risk of being overturned through the Congressional Review Act. Senior Policy Analyst Zoey Xie and Senior Scholar Susan Dudley discuss the growing awareness and prominence of the CRA and the notable patterns seen in the April rush. Read Dudley's column in Forbes. Read Xie's commentary.

President Biden’s Executive Order 14117 is an ambitious attempt to mitigate the exploitation of sensitive U.S. data. While the order’s implementation faces uncertainty in an election year, its approach is more tailored to producing meaningful protections on data security than the recent legislation banning TikTok. Senior Policy Analyst Mark Febrizio discusses the importance of addressing data security. Read the full commentary.

Will History Repeat Itself? Forecasting CRA Use in a Second Trump Administration

If Donald Trump is reelected to another presidential term in November 2024, efforts to continue his de-regulatory agenda are sure to follow. Regulations can be challenged on several fronts, and the Congressional Review Act (CRA) is an increasingly important tool that could be used following a change of administration. Professor Steven Balla and Policy Analyst Sarah Hay discuss the policy themes rolled back by the 115th Congress in 2017 and which could potentially be on the chopping block again in 2025. Read the full commentary.

Professor Steve Balla discusses a new legislative proposal which aims to implement recommendations of the Administrative Conference of the United States to better handle mass campaigns and computer-generated inputs in the public commenting process. The Comment Integrity and Management Act promotes best practices in commenting at federal agencies and directs further study on the impacts of mass campaigns and computer-generated content. Read the full commentary.

Policy analyst Sarah Hay dives into the Congressional Review Act (CRA), explaining its role in regulatory oversight by Congress. Hay unpacks the mechanics & usage, addresses common misconceptions, and sheds light on how Congress has used the CRA over time since its introduction in 1996. Read the full commentary online.

Last year was especially action-packed for watchers of federal regulation. Take a look back at major trends of 2023 with analysts Zhoudan (Zoey) Xie, Mark Febrizio and Sarah Hay as they share their perspectives on developments including artificial intelligence, greenhouse gas emissions, immigration, an overhaul of regulatory impact analysis, and much more. Read the full commentary and find previous yearly reviews at our website.

Connecticut is one of 17 states that currently complies with California’s stricter standards for vehicle emissions, pushing toward an improbably fast phaseout of gas-powered vehicles and making EVs a mandatory 100% of new car sales in just a few years. Bryce Chinault of the Yankee Institute discusses how the many economic and environmental tradeoffs of such a shift have state policymakers in Hartford questioning the wisdom of sticking with the EV mandate. For more, read Chinault’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed: Connecticut Hits a ‘Speed Bump’ on the Race to Mandate EVs.