Biden to nominate environmental law expert to lead powerful regulations office

President Biden on Friday announced plans to nominate environmental law expert Richard Revesz to lead the small but powerful White House office in charge of overseeing federal regulations.  

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which sits within the White House Office of Management and Budget, has been without a permanent occupant since Biden took office.  

The White House said Friday that Biden intends to nominate Revesz, the dean emeritus of New York University’s law school, to serve as administrator of the OIRA, capping months of speculation about who the president would tap to serve in the role.  

Revesz has extensive experience in environmental law and policy, having written several books on the topic. He served as dean of the NYU School of Law between 2002 and 2013 and also founded the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU.  

The office, which reviews proposed and final executive branch regulations, is currently being headed by a career OIRA official, Dominic Mancini.  

Revesz must be confirmed by the Senate, where all Democrats will need to vote in favor of his nomination if Republicans are uniformly opposed to him.  

If confirmed, Revesz will be a critical figure in advancing the president’s policies — particularly those in the environmental space.  

The position will take on added importance if Democrats lose control of either the House or Senate in the November midterm elections, because in that case Biden will likely lean more heavily on regulations rather than legislation to accomplish his agenda in the next Congress.