Mulvaney: Trump regulatory czar down to two candidates

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is poised to make a recommendation to President Trump on who he should appoint as regulatory czar, Director Mick Mulvaney said.

“We’ve got it down to two candidates, and I think we’ll be ready to make a recommendation on that area to the president here probably this week,” Mulvaney told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt without naming either candidate.

The appointee would run the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, better known as OIRA, and would report directly to Mulvaney.

OIRA polices the federal agencies to make sure they follow President Trump’s regulatory agenda. All major rules must be approved by OIRA before they are published.

During the interview, Mulvaney vowed to “push the limit” with the Congressional Review Act, which Republicans are using to repeal a number of Obama-era rules.

The Congressional Review Act allows lawmakers to overturn recently published regulations with a simple majority. The catch is lawmakers can only reach back 60 legislative days since the rule was published, which in this case, goes back to June 2016.

However, a regulation is not considered to be published until the federal agency sends a formal report notifying Congress and the Government Accountability Office. In many cases, these reports were never sent.

So regulatory experts are debating whether Republicans can reach back further than last June to the beginning of the Obama administration.

“We are going to try and look at any ways to legally push the limit on how far back we can go,” Mulvaney said.