Increasing Efficiency at the Office of the Federal Register
The order directs the Archivist of the United States to speed up Federal Register publication timelines and reform the fees agencies pay to publish rules, aiming to remove administrative bottlenecks the administration says are slowing its deregulatory agenda.
It establishes a reporting cycle to OMB to track whether publication delays shrink, but does not itself change any fee, timeline, or regulation — those changes depend on the Archivist's subsequent review and action.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs the Archivist of the United States, acting through the Office of the Federal Register, to reduce publication delays for regulatory documents and to review the fee schedule — currently $151–$174 per column of text — that agencies pay to publish in the Federal Register. The Archivist must work with the Director of the Government Publishing Office to modernize computer systems, eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy, and reset fees to reflect actual publication costs. The order requires three specific deliverables to OMB: an initial report on average publication times, a fee-comparison report after the fee review, and a follow-up publication-time report measured over a defined mid-summer window.
The order does not itself change any fee or publication timeline; all operative improvements require subsequent action by the Archivist and the Government Publishing Office. Implementation is conditioned on applicable law and the availability of appropriations, and the order creates no enforceable rights for any party.
Who it affects
Federal agencies and executive departments that submit final rules and other regulatory documents for Federal Register publication and currently pay per-column fees to do so. The Archivist of the United States, the Office of the Federal Register, and the Government Publishing Office are directly directed to act.
Why it matters
Agencies currently pay up to $174 per column of text and can wait days or weeks for publication. If the Archivist's review leads to lower fees and faster turnaround, agencies would face lower publication costs and be able to move regulatory changes through the Federal Register more quickly.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The Archivist submits an initial OMB report on current publication times within 15 days, then completes a fee review and files a cost-comparison report within 45 days. A follow-up OMB report due August 22 measures publication times over the July 15–August 15 window to assess improvement. OMB receives all three reports but the order assigns it no specific follow-on authority. National Archives bears the cost of publishing the order itself. No enforcement mechanism is specified beyond the reporting requirements.
Actions and deadlines
- Submit report to OMB on average publication times for different document categories
- Review Federal Register fee schedules and take steps to base fees on actual publication costs
- File report to OMB calculating percentage difference between proposed new fee schedule and prior one
- Submit second report to OMB on average publication times for July 15–August 15, 2025
- Work with Government Publishing Office to reduce publication delays through system modernization and eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy