Lessons from Biden’s new, unified federal regulatory agenda coming in spring 2024

At the end of July 4th^t holiday weekend, the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the spring 2024 edition of the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, a biennial presentation of federal regulatory priorities. This edition highlights the administration’s emphasis on public participation in the rulemaking process.

Traditionally, the Unified Agenda has prioritized regulatory oversight, reducing paperwork, and balancing costs and benefits. However, under Biden’s 2023 Executive Order 14,094, OMB shifted its emphasis from an oversight role to a promotion role “net benefits” from various government initiatives. July 5^t A White House blog post described the Agenda as supporting the administration’s stated goals of investing in America, lowering the cost of living for families, combating climate change and supporting economic growth.

The Spring 2024 Agenda reveals 3,698 policies from more than 60 federal departments and agencies, up from 3,599 in the Fall 2023 edition. They are divided into Active Actions (2,361), Completed Actions (689), and Long-Term Actions (648). Active Actions include policies that are anticipated or prioritized for the near future, although their number has declined slightly since the fall, indicating a potential slowdown through the end of 2024. Withdrawals on some issues are not uncommon in an election year.

On the other hand, the number of actions terminated has increased dramatically, likely due to the potential use of resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in 119^t Congress. That means the legislation was not finalized until the last 60 legislative days of this 118^t Congress is vulnerable to overthrow, so the surge in support earlier this year that is reflected in the new Agenda is no surprise.

A significant policy change that has been fully implemented in the new Agenda is Biden’s new definition of what constitutes a “significant regulatory action.” The threshold for deeper OMB review has increased from $100 million to $200 million in annual economic impact. As a result, fewer regulations are now subject to this more stringent category of review, formerly known as “economically significant” but now referred to as “Section 3(f)(1) Significant” (or S3F1). The Spring 2024 Agenda lists 287 S3F1 regulations, compared to 303 in Fall 2023.

Despite the increased threshold, the $100 million in the Congressional Review Act for “major” provisions remains intact. The Spring Agenda shows a marked increase in completed major provisions, potentially reflecting, as noted, the Administration’s emphasis on finalizing the provisions before they become susceptible to CRA disapproval in the next Congress. This collection of completed major provisions in the United Agenda—there are 97 of them—is particularly important for Congress to examine.

The Unified Agenda has historically served as an important tool for assessing federal regulatory activity. However, under the Biden administration, its effectiveness has been diminished. Congress must closely monitor these developments, particularly those involving significant regulations with significant economic consequences and their alleged, but suspect, net benefits. Strengthening oversight and strengthening OMB’s role as an oversight body will be critical to effectively balancing regulatory benefits and costs.

Note: For more details and charts, see “Biden releases spring consolidated federal spending plan for 2024” ForbesJuly 7, 2024