In recent weeks, regulatory agencies have been scrambling to finalize some of their most consequential policies, such as abortion data privacy, anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients and nursing home minimum staffing.
At issue is the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a fast-track legislative tool that allows lawmakers to nullify rules even after the executive branch has completed them. The CRA also bars agencies from pursuing “substantially similar” rules going forward, unless Congress orders it.
While he was in office, Trump used the CRA an unprecedented 16 times to kill various Obama-era policies.
Administration officials likely have until late May to wrap up key regulations based on CRA rules, though that timeline could change because of quirks in congressional calendar.
Rules can be protected if they are finished before the “look-back” window opens in the last 60 legislative days of the 2024 session. But nobody will likely know when that is until after Congress adjourns for the year.
Most of the major rules that supporters of the administration were concerned about were published in April, though there are still some yet to be issued. Advocacy groups praised the White House for finalizing regulations they said will protect vulnerable populations.
Among the rules health care advocates had been pushing hard for were ones that would expand protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, privacy regulation for people seeking abortions, as well as another to protect LGBTQ patients from discrimination.
Both policies were released at the end of April, though they could still be likely targets of a future Trump administration.
