In race to cement legacy, Trump pushes dozens of 'midnight regulations'

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

As President Donald Trump keeps a lower profile during his final weeks in office, behind the scenes the administration is racing to solidify his legacy, fulfill campaign promises and overhaul federal regulations that could take President-elect Joe Biden years to undo.

"I think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of January, a lot of things," Trump asserted in an Oval Office appearance on Thanksgiving.

From immigration to environmental protections, the Trump administration is quietly pushing to finalize more than three dozen rule changes that could have significant impact for years.

They include religious exemptions for federal contractors under employment discrimination laws; looser water efficiency standards for shower heads and washing machines; and stricter eligibility for food stamps, even as millions out of work in the pandemic look to the government for help.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/race-cement-legacy-trump-pushes-dozens-midnight-regulations/story?id=74507203&cid=clicksource_4380645_2_heads_hero_live_headlines_hed

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One of the proposals being considered is to ban the EPA from using any scientific study that doesn't fully disclose all underlying raw data. The problem with this is that in studies of the effects of pollutants on people, patients rightfully don't want their personal medical data disclosed and many will likely balk at cooperating if they couldn't be guaranteed anonymity.

[underpants]

1. Polluters and racists

Still the main focus of conservative efforts

[FM123]

2. Yep. This is what trump and his evil administration do, evil til the end.....

Even as they walk out the door they are throwing matches behind them.

[DeminPennswoods]

3. The GOP's wet dreams

The reason they've enabled and embraced Trump. They hate him, but love the policies.

[cstanleytech]

4. Can't Biden simply do what Trump is doing and use his powers to invalidate the rule changes?

[jmowreader]

9. Since Trump uses executive orders exclusively...

...Biden’s reversal also requires an executive order.

Since EOs are published online, if I was PE Biden I would have staffers monitoring the EO feed and writing countermanding EOs as we speak.

Seriously though, shower heads? Hasn’t anyone ever told the fat bastard that with a Harbor Freight drill press and a numbered drill bit set you can make a shower head flow as much water as you want?

[iluvtennis]

15. + agree that the countermanding EOs should be in process right now, so that within the first

week of Joe Biden's administration these evil EOs will become null and void.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Don't those regulations have to go thru certain steps?

[Xipe Totec]

6. 2017/05/07 - GOP onslaught on Obama's 'midnight rules' comes to an end

Remember this maneuver against midnight regulations, 4 years ago?

Since February, Republicans have used a once-obscure 1996 law to quash 13 "midnight" regulations on topics such as coal mining pollution, gun rights, internet privacy, Planned Parenthood funding, retirement savings and even bear hunting in Alaska. A 14th rule-blocking resolution is heading toward Trump’s desk, and GOP lawmakers hope to kill at least one more rule, on methane pollution, before the clock runs out Thursday.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/07/obama-regulations-gop-midnight-rules-238051

Hello, gander? Meet goose.

“This should be a huge lesson to any future president, that if you’re going to carry out massive regulations that don’t have the support of the American people or the American Congress, then perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place,” said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who called the outcome “a success for the American people.” He estimated that Congress’ nullification of the rules will save companies tens of billions of dollars in compliance costs.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) portrayed Republicans’ enthusiastic use of the review act as a deserved comeuppance for Obama. “I think it was bred by the fact that we had a president who said, ‘I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,’ saying, ‘I’m disregarding Congress,'" he said.

But Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii had a warning for Republicans: Someday, his party will retake power in Washington.

“Now that this tool has been exercised, it’s available to everybody, and we’ll use it too,” Schatz said. He added: “As long as the statute’s available to us, then we’d be crazy not to utilize it for our purposes as well.”

[DonCoquixote]

7. nice to see some honest memories of john Mcain

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) portrayed Republicans’ enthusiastic use of the review act as a deserved comeuppance for Obama. “I think it was bred by the fact that we had a president who said, ‘I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,’ saying, ‘I’m disregarding Congress,'" he said.

With all the homilies to JM about the fact he was less of a GOP asshole than Trump, it is nice to remember that he was still a GOP asshole.

[Fla Dem]

18. Agree. John McCain was a thorn in Democrats' side.

He did a couple of righteous acts in his waning days, but that doesn't dismiss his staunch RW stance throughout his career. Gets accolades from opposition because evidently he was a fun guy to be around.

John McCain's greatest achievement was convincing the world through charming banter and occasional opposition to his party's agenda that he was anything other than a reactionary, bloodthirsty war hawk.

https://jacobinmag.com/2018/08/john-mccain-was-not-hero-obituary-war-racism-sexism

[greenjar_01]

8. More bullshit - media pretends R admins have unlimited power, D admins always boxed in

This is agency rule-making, not law. Any rule they make that is consonant with the law can be unmade - all you need is a comment period. Same goes for the executive orders. This idea that Trump exec orders are permanent or hard to undo while D exec orders are impossible to uphold is just a pile of trash. Any last minute agency rule making can be overruled with another period of agency rule making, and Biden's transition should absolutely be keeping tabs on any bullshit rules being pushed through this year.

[thenelm1]

13. Almost 4 years in and the MSM is still trying to trying to put lipstick on this pig. n/t

[ET Awful]

10. You can't put a policy like that in place without violating federal HIPAA laws.

Disclosure of personal medical information is a HIPAA violation. To put a policy in place that requires HIPAA violations is hardly a supportable policy and would not survive any legal challenge.

[DownriverDem]

11. Executive Orders

can be overturned and will be that need to be.

[truthisfreedom]

12. Washing machines? Shower heads? Toilets? Sinks? Oh, ok, hotel shit.

It's all about him and his expenses.

[Cryptoad]

14. Hope I live long enough to ,,,,

Piss on his Grave!

[maxsolomon]

16. There are several Republicans I'm holding similar hopes for.

Mitch McConnell being at the top of the list.

Unfortunately, Paul, Cruz & Cotton will likely outlive me.

[TygrBright]

17. He's got a cement legacy already. Dump him in the East River. n/t

[jalan48]

19. Make a list and reverse them all at once.

[Warpy]

20. Anything he tries to do by executive fiat

can be overturned just as easily next month.

He's got 6 weeks of a bunch of handpicked toadies to flatter him. They are not going to last long.

This is just more flailing by a malignant narcissist who is being deprived of attention.

[BobTheSubgenius]

21. What f'ing mess.

You've got the worst person that's ever been in the federal government in ANY elected position motivated to wreak enormous havoc, and the best tool he could ask for with which to do it.

I suppose you could make a case for the bottom of the barrel being those Southern good ol' boys who quit the US Govt then tried to overthrow it. But I bet that meeting any one of them, and this vermillion dipshit at the same time, I know which one would make your skin crawl.