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Administrative Law

In ‘power move’ over independent agencies, Trump demands review of proposed regulations

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 21, 2025, 9:47 am CST

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday that requires all agencies to submit proposed regulations to the White House for review, with no carve-out for independent agencies.

The Feb. 18 executive order applies to “so-called independent agencies,” such as the Federal Trade Commission. the Federal Communications Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a White House fact sheet. The only agency not fully included in the mandate is the Federal Reserve, which still has the power to make decisions about monetary policy.

The order also gives the Office of Management and Budget the power to adjust funding for the agencies based on presidential priorities. It also states that a president and the U.S. attorney general will interpret the law for the agencies.

Law.com, Law360 and the New York Times have stories.

“This is a power move over independent agencies, a structure of administration that Congress has used for various functions going back to the 1880s,” said Peter M. Shane, a legal scholar in residence at the New York University School of Law, in an interview with the New York Times.

According to the New York Times, the executive order and Trump’s firings of independent agency leaders “constitute a major front in the president’s assault on the basic shape of the American government and his effort to seize some of Congress’ constitutional power over it.”

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