Ensuring Democratic Accountability in Agency Rulemaking
The order requires that all federal agency rules issued under the standard notice-and-comment process must be signed and initiated by political appointees — not career officials — placing elected-administration accountability at every step of the rulemaking process.
Establishes a review of twelve years of significant rules to identify any issued without senior-appointee authorization, and directs agencies to revise internal delegations and procedures to conform with the new requirement.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs the head of every covered federal agency to require that any rule issued under the standard rulemaking process (5 U.S.C. § 553) be signed by a senior political appointee, and that only such appointees may initiate a rulemaking or approve the agency's regulatory agenda. It carves out a narrow exception for public safety or security needs, but only if the agency head personally makes the finding and notifies the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and the Federal Register — a determination that cannot be delegated. OIRA's Administrator is charged with providing implementation guidance and monitoring compliance across the executive branch.
The order also sets a backward-looking audit: agencies must review all significant rules issued over the past twelve years to determine whether career officials — rather than appointees — authorized them. Agencies must amend their internal delegation orders and management regulations within 180 days to conform with the new senior-appointee requirement. The order does not itself invalidate any existing rule; the consequences of the audit depend on future decisions by the agency head and the Administrator.
Who it affects
All executive agencies covered by Executive Order 12866 (explicitly including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and explicitly excluding the Federal Bureau of Prisons), their senior political appointees whose sign-off is now required, and career rulemaking staff whose authority to finalize or initiate rules is curtailed.
Why it matters
Any new federal rule — governing areas from workplace safety to financial products to environmental standards — must now have a political appointee's formal authorization at the start and end of the process. Career civil servants who previously could finalize regulations on delegated authority can no longer do so without an appointee's involvement.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
OIRA's Administrator serves as the hub: receiving exception notifications from agency heads, authorizing deadline extensions for the twelve-year rule review, and monitoring compliance government-wide. The implementation arc runs in three stages — agencies first start applying the new sign-off requirement immediately, then complete the historical audit within 90 days, file a report within 120 days, and revise internal delegation orders and procedural regulations within 180 days. The order creates no private right of action, so enforcement is administrative rather than judicial.
Actions and deadlines
- Review all significant rules issued over the last 12 years to determine whether signed by a senior appointee
- Submit report to the President through the OIRA Administrator summarizing findings of the rule review
- Review and revise internal delegations of rulemaking authority to conform with the senior-appointee requirement
- Amend agency management and procedure regulations to incorporate the senior-appointee signing requirement