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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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It’s a well-worn saying that the law always lags behind technology. It makes sense. We all remember the old song about how a bill becomes a law and how long the whole process can take. By the time you get to the verse about a president signing something into law, technology has either evolved into something even more cutting edge or become obsolete—replaced by a newer, shinier toy.

When it comes to data protection and privacy, some states have already taken the lead in trying to protect consumer data. But in these political times, expecting or hoping for the federal government to follow suit seems about as likely as seeing pigs fly. Throw in new revolutionary types of tech, such as generative artificial intelligence, and what was once just a lag has the potential to turn into a gulf.

In this episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast, Benjamin Mishkin, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s technology privacy and data security practice group, talks with the ABA Journal’s Victor Li about what the regulatory landscape looks like regarding data protection and privacy and what we can—and can’t—expect in the near future.

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In This Podcast:

Benjamin Mishkin

Benjamin Mishkin is a member of Cozen O’Connor’s technology privacy and data security practice group, and he focuses his practice on technology and data privacy. He advises clients in complex data transactions, software agreements and intellectual property matters. Mishkin is well-versed in data use and data license agreements governing the exchange of confidential data, including California personal information protected by the California Consumer Privacy Act, European personal information protected by the General Data Protection Regulation, protected health information under HIPAA and other sensitive data types. He works with clients to ensure that their sensitive data is protected by robust cybersecurity requirements.