The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA ) is a division within the Office of Management and Budget under the Executive Office of the President. OIRA oversees the implementation of government-wide policies in, and reviews draft regulations under, Executive Order 12866, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the Information Quality Act.

Tasks OIRA reviews draft rules that it receives from federal agencies under the three laws noted in the preamble to this article, and develops and oversees the implementation of government-wide policies in the areas of information technology, information policy, privacy, and statistical policy.

As one step in the entire rulemaking process (as explained in more detail in United States administrative law), OIRA reviews draft rules and regulations under 12866 from 1993.as amended by Executive Orders 13258 and 13422 in 2007, 13563 in 2011 and Executive Orders 13771 and 13777 in 2017. Executive Order 12866 describes OIRA's role in the rulemaking process and directs agencies to follow certain principles, such as consideration of alternatives and analysis of impacts, both benefits and costs. OIRA reviews draft regulations to ensure agency compliance with this executive order.

History and jurisdiction

Cost/benefit analysis—Executive Order 12866 and its predecessors Presidential regulatory principles and the centralized review of draft regulations had been part of U.S. regulatory development for decades. President Nixon's "Quality of Life" program involved such review, and President Ford's in 1974 required agencies to prepare inflation/economic impact statements.

A predecessor office had existed at Office of Management and Budget, OMB, an agency within the Executive Office of the President for many years; from 1977 to 1981, it was briefly at the Department of Commerce. It continued with President Jimmy Carter's on "Improving Government Regulations."

Today, about 20% of all regulations flow through OIRA for cost-benefit regulatory review under Executive Order 12866.

Paperwork Reduction Act, 1981 Congress passed the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 () and its successor, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (), that established OIRA in the OMB.

The OMB review process became more formalized in 1981 with President Ronald Reagan's . During his administration, the White House had reviewed 2,000 to 3,000 regulations per year. It continued during the George H. W. Bush Administration and the first nine months of the Clinton administration.

In September 1993, President Bill Clinton issued , and the total dropped to between 500 and 700 annually.Curtis W. Copeland. 2009. Federal Rulemaking: The Role of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Congressional Research Service. The executive order states OIRA should focus on "economically significant" rules. Of the 500 to 700 rules reviewed by OIRA annually, about 100 have been classified as "economically significant". In 1995, the Paperwork Reduction Act was updated.

In January 2007, President George W. Bush signed , which changed the rules as of July 24, 2007. The Executive Order covers federal agencies' "guidance documents", in addition to regulations. Its stated purpose was to ensure that agencies comply with the regulatory principles stated in Executive Order 12866 and that the President's policies are reflected in agency rules. It also specified procedures for the resolution of conflicts between or among agencies. In July 2007, controversy arose in the U.S. Congress over this order giving the OIRA additional powers. The House of Representatives voted to prohibit OIRA from spending federal money on Executive Order 13422.

In January 2011, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13563 to improve regulation and regulatory review.

OIRA guides and coordinates agencies with respect to Circular A4, Information Quality Guidelines, and the Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices.

Organization The office has five branches: Food, Health, and Labor Branch Information Policy Branch Natural Resources and Environment Branch Statistical & Science Policy Branch Transportation and Security Branch

Administrators ImageNameStart dateEnd dateJames C. Miller IIIJanuary 1981September 1981Christopher C. DeMuthOctober 1981May 1984Douglas H. Ginsburg19841985Wendy Lee GrammOctober 1985February 1988S. Jay Plager19881989Jim MacRae (acting)19891993Sally Katzen19931998Don Arbuckle (acting)March 1997 June 1999John T. SpotilaJuly 1999December 2000Don Arbuckle (acting)January 2001July 2001John Graham2001 March 2006Steve Aiken (acting)April 2006March 2007Susan DudleyApril 4, 2007January 20, 2009Kevin Neyland (acting)January 20, 2009September 10, 2009Cass SunsteinSeptember 10, 2009August 21, 2012Boris Bershteyn (acting) August 21, 2012June 27, 2013Howard ShelanskiPresidential Nominations Sent to the Senate, April 25, 2013, White House archive.June 27, 2013January 20, 2017Dominic Mancini (acting)January 20, 2017July 18, 2017Neomi RaoPresident Donald J Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts , April 7, 2017, White House.July 18, 2017March 18, 2019Dominic Mancini (acting)March 2019Paul J. Ray (acting)March 2019January 10, 2020Paul J. RayJanuary 10, 2020January 20, 2021Dominic Mancini (acting)January 20, 2021April 22, 2021Sharon Block (acting)April 22, 2021February 1, 2022Dominic Mancini (acting)February 1, 2022January 2023Richard ReveszJanuary 2023January 20, 2025Dominic Mancini (acting)January 20, 2025March 5, 2025Jeffrey Clark (acting)March 5, 2025March 4, 2026Mark Paoletta (performing delegated duties)March 4, 2026present

Criticism ProPublica released an investigation into the division as one that has since its creation had significant but little-known power to alter regulations. It has been controversial since its inception in the 1980s. It has been given significant authority over administrative agencies through executive orders signed by presidents of both parties. It also conducts much of its business in secret and is exempt from most Freedom of Information Act requests. It also "routinely declines to release the changes it has proposed, the evidence it has relied upon to make them, or the identities and affiliations of White House advisers and other agencies' staff it has consulted". It has also been successfully used by lobbyists to alter draft regulations, with a 2003 GAO report stating "'regulated parties,' typically corporations or their lobbyists, frequently get what they want after meetings with OIRA."

A 2011 report from the Center on Progressive Reform stated that in 10 years, OIRA altered 84 percent of EPA rule submissions (as well as 65 percent of proposed rules from other agencies). The EPA's new rules on ozone pollution developed since September 2009, rolled out as tougher draft standards in January 2010, were repeatedly delayed.

See also Council on Wage and Price Stability

References

External links

Regulatory Information Service Center in the Federal Register RegInfo: Where to find Federal Regulatory Information Archive of U.S. Executive Orders What is OIRA? thecre.com History OMB Regulatory Review The White House Transitions Project's Insider's Guide to OMB The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the durability of regulatory oversight in the United States. By Susan E. Dudley for Regulation & Governance, 20 July, 2020. OIRA: The tiny office that's about to remake the federal government April 16, 2025 episode of Planet Money