Feb. 19 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping executive order to expand the president’s control over independent regulatory agencies and declaring that only the president and the attorney general can interpret the meanings of laws.
Trump signed the executive order Tuesday at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort as he continues to try to consolidate the power of the federal government.
According to the order, all executive departments and agencies must submit for review all proposed and final regulatory actions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of the President for review to ensure they are consistent with “the President’s policies and priorities.”
All regulatory agencies will create a White House liaison position, the order states.
Also, only the president and the attorney general will provide “authoritative interpretations of the law for the executive branch,” the order states.
“No employee of the executive branch acting in their official capacity may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General’s opinion on a matter of law.”
Independent agencies affected by the move include the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A fact sheet from the White House describes the executive order as “reining in” the independent agencies that “issue rules and regulations that cost billions of dollars and implicate some of the most controversial policy matters, and they do so without the review of the democratically elected President.”
“Now, they will no longer impose rules on the American people without oversight or accountability,” the White House said.
The move to challenge the independence of these agencies is unprecedented, and is expected to attract lawsuits.
Progressive consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen described the executive order as undermining the powers granted to the independent agencies by Congress. It also argued that it aims to “shield” corporations from accountability while centralizing more power with Trump, it said.
“This a profoundly dangerous idea for the nation’s health, safety, environment and economy — and for our democracy. Congress made independent agencies independent of the White House for good reason,” Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, said in a statement.
“In short, independent agencies would become dependent — dependent on the whims of Trump, Vought and their corporate buddies. This would be a disaster for America.
Russell Vought is the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and is granted supervisory power of the independent agencies.
The order directs him to establish performance standards and management objectives for the agency heads, among a slew of other responsibilities.