Biden’s Modernizing Regulatory Review – A New Paradigm?

Along with its efforts to repeal, revise and develop regulations, one of the more fundamental impacts of the Biden administration on the regulatory state may be the process of how the benefits and costs of regulations are analyzed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.  On January 20, 2021, the White House issued a memorandum entitled “Modernizing Regulatory Review,” which directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to modernize and improve regulations by ensuring the regulatory review process reflects “new developments in scientific and economic understanding, fully accounts for regulatory benefits that are difficult or impossible to quantify, and does not have harmful anti-regulatory or deregulatory effects.” (See Modernizing Regulatory Review | The White House)