Regulation Roundup: The Podcast

In Episode 2, we zoom in on OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — the roughly 50-person office inside OMB that reviews every significant federal regulation before it can take effect. We cover where OIRA sits in the government, its three core functions (regulatory review, Paperwork Reduction Act oversight, and statistical policy), how the 90-day review clock really works, who gets to meet with OIRA and how those meetings are tracked, and the Unified Agenda, the government’s biannual regulatory forecast. Episode 002 In this episode, we cover: Where OIRA sits in the executive branch and why its placement matters OIRA’s three functions: regulatory review, Paperwork Reduction Act oversight, and statistical policy The 90-day review clock The all-time modification rate (38%) vs. the last decade (84%) Stakeholder meetings: over 7,700 meetings with nearly 90,000 attendees since 2014 The Unified Agenda: 237,000+ entries tracking every regulation in the federal pipeline since 1995 Trump 2.0’s expansion of OIRA review to independent agencies Links: Blog post: What is OIRA? Previous episode: What is Executive Order 12866? Track rules under OIRA review: app.regulationroundup.com Next in this series: What is the Federal Register? Connect: Website: regulationroundup.com Dashboard: app.regulationroundup.com The post What is OIRA? The Most Powerful Office You’ve Probably Never Heard Of appeared first on Regulation Roundup.

In our debut episode, we break down Executive Order 12866, the 1993 order signed by President Clinton that created the modern framework for federal regulatory review. We cover how a roughly 50-person office inside OMB has reviewed over 48,000 rules and modified nearly 38% of them, the four criteria that trigger White House review, how every president from Obama to Trump 2.0 has built on it, and a real-world case study of the FDA hearing aid rule. Plus, we use audio from President Clinton’s actual signing ceremony. Episode 001 In this episode, we cover: Audio from President Clinton’s signing of EO 12866 on September 30, 1993 The history of presidential regulatory oversight from Nixon’s “Quality of Life Review” through Reagan’s EO 12291 What EO 12866 actually requires: the $100M significance threshold, cost-benefit analysis, transparency, and the 90-day review clock How OIRA review works in practice: interagency circulation, stakeholder meetings, and negotiation The numbers: 54% of rules cleared without changes, 38% modified, and the disappearance of formal returns Case study: The FDA’s over-the-counter hearing aid rule (2017–2022) How each president has amended EO 12866: Obama: EO 13563 — non-quantifiable benefits, retrospective review Trump 1.0: EO 13771 — “one-in, two-out” Biden: EO 14094 — raised threshold to $200M Trump 2.0: EO 14215 — extended OIRA review to independent agencies, “one-in, ten-out” Links: Blog post: What is Executive Order 12866? Track rules under OIRA review: app.regulationroundup.com Next in this series: What is OIRA? Connect: Website: regulationroundup.com Dashboard: app.regulationroundup.com The post What is Executive Order 12866? The Blueprint for Regulatory Review appeared first on Regulation Roundup.