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Bush Scrambles to Block Clinton Rush Orders

By Eric Pianin

Sunday, January 21, 2001

President Bush moved swiftly yesterday to block or rescind scores of executive orders and regulations dealing with the environment, health, food and safety, and workplace conditions that were rushed through in the final weeks of the Clinton administration.

Under orders from Bush, White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. instructed the Government Printing Office to halt publication in the Federal Register of any new rules "to ensure that the president's appointees have the opportunity to review any new or pending regulations."
Final regulations have the force of law once they are printed in the Federal Register, the government's official organ. The new administration also issued a 60-day stay on regulations that were published in the register but have not yet taken effect.

Although other new presidents have issued similar instructions after taking office, Bush and his aides have voiced concern over the number of regulations implemented in the closing days of the Clinton presidency, particularly moves to protect millions of acres of public lands from logging and oil exploration.

"President Clinton was very busy issuing final regulations," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday. Bush's order gives the new administration "the chance to fully and carefully review all these last-minute regulations. It's our responsibility and it's sound public policy."

Bush also ordered a freeze on most federal hiring to give his new Cabinet members the opportunity to put their stamp on the government bureaucracy, and issued a strict code of conduct for members of his administration that focuses on potential financial conflicts of interest.

Bush also issued a proclamation declaring today a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, urging Americans to spend their Sunday in prayer and reflection, recalling "all that unites us."

Although presidents have challenged last-minute rule-making by their predecessors in the past, Bush's handling of his review of Clinton administration actions could have a significant impact on relations between the Republican administration and congressional Democrats.

Republicans hailed the president's action as a brake on hasty legislating by decree, but Democrats said they would be closely watching Bush's review of those regulations for clues as to his seriousness about trying to mend political wounds from the election.

"I would hope that he would take great care in rolling back many of these matters that I think have been very carefully thought out and would have very serious repercussions were they to be terminated this quickly," said Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.).
Among the actions targeted are environmental restrictions on runoff from animal feeding operations and more than 800 pages of new guidelines for managed care programs under Medicare.

Another possible target is a last-minute regulation announced by former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman that would require plants producing hot dogs and other ready-to-eat meats to conduct periodic testing for listeria bacteria, which sickened 100 people and killed 21 others during an outbreak several years ago. The measure was supported by consumer groups but opposed by large segments of the meat industry.

The Environmental Protection Agency also recently issued other regulations to reduce the small traces of arsenic in drinking water by 80 percent, to cut back on pollution in the Mississippi River and to expand residents' right to know about lead emissions in their communities.
The Clinton administration issued regulations protecting 60 million acres of national forests from logging and road-building, and instituted rules to prevent workplace injuries. It also proposed new standards for lead in paint, soil and dust, and the sulfur levels in diesel fuel for buses and large trucks.

Some of these measures, including new ergonomic standards that are vigorously opposed by the business community and the logging ban in roadless forests, are likely out of Bush's reach because of the difficulties he would encounter under federal law in trying to rescind rules that already have the effect of law.
However, congressional Republicans and Bush administration officials say they are troubled by the flurry of last-minute action by Clinton and insist that a careful review with an eye to possible changes is warranted.

"The whole myriad of regulations he signed while he was walking out the door should be looked at," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.). "Clinton had four years of a second term to do some of those, and because he does them all right now makes them all suspect."

© 2001 The Washington Post