Source: Eric Lipton / NY Times
During the first six weeks of the Trump administration, more than 90 Obama-era federal regulations have been put on hold, or enforcement has been suspended, or, in a few cases, rules have even been revoked. The decisions often were made after requests by the regulated industries. Here are 12 examples.
In an unsurprising, yet no less significant, vote the Senate moved one step closer to eliminating a regulation that requires federal contractors to disclose and correct safety violations.
In a narrow result that divided along party lines, the Senate voted 49 to 48 to eliminate the regulation, dubbed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule. Finalized in August and blocked by a court order in October, the rule would limit the ability of companies with recent safety problems to compete for government contracts unless they agreed to remedies.
In an explicitly stated attempt to place economic interests above the environment and safe drinking water, the President and his new EPA director began the process to roll back an Obama-era environmental protection rule.
The Trump administration is moving to roll back an environmental rule intended to define which small bodies of water are subject to federal authority under the Clean Water Act.
A new rule that requires financial advisers and brokers act in their customers' best interest when offering them investment advice for their workplace retirement accounts is set to go into effect this April. Over the past two weeks, the Trump administration has taken steps to delay or end the rule designed to save American workers billions of dollars they currently pay in excessive fees in their retirement accounts.
Since the current Administation nominated Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, the question has not been 'if' but 'when' he would take action to enforce Federal laws contradicted by legalized recreational marijuana use laws in seven states and Washington DC.
Advocates of liberal marijuana laws have eyed the arrival of Attorney General Jeff Sessions with unease. The former Republican senator from Alabama has a long track record of speaking out against marijuana use.
In another move that increases the power of internet service providers, such as Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, Verizon, and others, the Federal Communications Commission paused the roll-out of previously approved regulations requiring companies to inform their customers about what information is collected about them and how it is being used.
The newly appointed Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is moving to scale back the implementation of sweeping privacy rules for Internet providers passed last year.
If you have ever wondered why the flow of big money in politics has exploded despite bipartisan efforts, with every loophole exploited and no action by the Federal Election Commission, look no further than Don McGahn, the new White House counsel, who has fought for years to prevent rules against big money in politics long before the Supreme Court blessed the idea.
While simultaneously placing a gas company executive at the top position in the State Department, the GOP-led House passed a resolution ending an SEC requirement that oil, gas, and mining companies disclose payments to foreign governments.
Senators Isakson and Perdue, both of Georgia, have filed legislation to overturn regulations capping overdraft fees on pre-paid debit cards. It appears one of the major beneficiaries of this regulation rollback would be a company called Total System Services, which has donated tens of thousands of dollars to both Senators.
As a candidate, Trump regularly railed against lobbyists and led crowds in chants of “Drain the swamp!” But as president, Trump last month signed an executive order that weakened significant aspects of the Obama ethics policy, including scrapping a ban on lobbyists joining agencies they had recently lobbied.