Deregulatory Rush Shows Trump WH Willing To 'Scorch The Earth Before They Go'

[appalachiablue]

Brett Wilkins and Common Dreams October 18, 2020, Alternet.

With President Donald Trump's re-election very much in doubt, his administration is rushing to ram through regulatory rollbacks that could adversely affect millions of Americans, the environment, and the ability of Joe Biden—should he win—to pursue his agenda or even undo the damage done over the past four years.

Reporting by the New York Times details how the administration is cutting corners as it scrambles to enact as much of its agenda as possible before ceding power on January 20 if Trump loses the election. Required public comment periods and detailed analyses, according to the Times, are being eschewed in favor of streamlined approval processes that have left even staunch deregulation defenders sounding the alarm.

Two main hallmarks of a good regulation is sound analysis to support the alternatives chosen and extensive public comment to get broader opinion," Susan E. Dudley, director of the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center and formerly head of regulation in the George W. Bush White House, told the Times. "It is a concern if you are bypassing both of those."

Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told the Times that the president has always "worked quickly... to grow the economy by removing the mountain of Obama-Biden job-killing regulations." However, critics are warning that some of the proposed changes are being rushed through with insufficient regard to the harm they might cause. Some of the issues that are raising red flags include:

Refusing to lower limits on dangerous particulate and ozone pollution, which cause thousands of annual premature deaths.

Allowing so-called "bomb trains" that transport highly combustible liquefied natural gas on freight trains.

Determining when workers can be classified as employees or independent contractors.

Exempting certain commercial drivers from mandatory hour limits and rest periods.

Placing limits on how science is used in the air pollution rule-making process.

Expanding regulation of immigrants by requiring citizenship applicants to submit biometric data, by forcing sponsors of immigrants to stay off welfare and prove their financial independence...

https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/deregulatory-rush-shows-even-if-defeated-the-trump-white-house-willing-to-scorch-the-earth-before-they-go/

[onecaliberal]

1. If it's this easy for dump to do without congress, Joe can easily undo it.

[appalachiablue]

2. Joe sure can and will

[Mike 03]

4. Yes, I'm baffled by this sentence:

and the ability of Joe Biden—should he win—to pursue his agenda or even undo the damage done over the past four years

Why would it be hard to undo this?

In fact, if Biden is elected in November, he should casually advise against corporations rushing into implementing these deregulations. In fact, if the corporations are smart, they won't do anything immediately.

I remember, some of the deregulation Trump has tried to push through was even opposed by beneficiary corporations.

[beachbumbob]

3. will have NO impact as whatever trump does can easily be undone

[drray23]

5. zero impact .

Any deregulatory change takes time for companies to implement. They are not going to rush to adopt new rules for two months when it will be reverted by the Biden administration.