Bush's Eleventh-Hour Rule Changes Could Take Years To Reverse

[babylonsister]

Will Bush’s midnight rules be reversible?
By: Joaquin Sapien - ProPublica
November 19, 2008 12:01 PM EST


Whether it’s relaxing pollution control standards for power plants or allowing loaded weapons into national parks, the Bush Administration is scrambling to approve or change as many federal rules as it can before it hands off power to President-elect Barack Obama. This surge of “midnight regulations” presents a thorny question for the next administration: What can it do to void rules it thinks should be undone?

An Obama spokesman told ProPublica that the transition team can’t comment on the new administration’s strategy yet. However, John Podesta, a leading member of the transition team, has said Obama will use his “executive authority without waiting for congressional action” to reverse many of Bush’s policies.

But that authority has its limits.

While executive orders and rules that are not yet in effect can swiftly be reversed or altered by Obama’s appointees or his own executive orders, rules that go into effect before he takes office will be extremely difficult to undo. Rescinding a rule would require the new administration to re-start the rule-making process, which can take years and prompt legal challenges. Another strategy that has been talked about lately – getting Congress to disapprove the rules through the Congressional Review Act — carries political risks and has been used only once before.

“The problem with what the Bush administration is doing is that these rules are extremely cumbersome to adopt, and they are every bit as cumbersome to undo,” said David Vladeck, an administrative law professor at Georgetown University. “It condemns the next administration to spend years fighting on the old administration’s agenda.”

more...

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=B24C4472-18FE-70B2-A889085831A6E63C

[sakabatou]

1. That bastard!

[opihimoimoi]

2. Does Bush even Care?? Obviously NO....He s loading the system with HIS CRONIES

I Hope he suffers a miserable retirement...let him see the devastation he caused, let him understand he was a miserable anmd complete failure..

He is the Worst of the worst...

[autorank]

3. and Conhgress won't even mention (that I've seen) the 140 bill illegal tax break for banks

When they don't talk about it, they endorse it. It's a crime and it's total drivel for them to
say that they don't want to upset the apple cart of the meaning less give aways they created against
the will of the people.

As far as these regulations go, take the step of putting them up before Congress and have an up or
down. Never a better time than now.

[Vadem]

4. This p**sses me off! If George Bush can sign an order, why can't

Barack unsign the same order and get rid of the onerous ones?

Being President has a lot of clout and I hope that Barack will go through all of these orders with a fine-toothed comb and delete the bastards!


:wtf: