Upton to Seek More FCC Oversight by Obama Administration
House Commerce Committee leaders disagreed whether new regulatory reforms by President Barack Obama should apply to independent federal agencies like the FCC. At a House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing Wednesday, an Office of Management and Budget official said current law prevented Obama from applying his recent executive order to independent agencies. Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said he will pursue legislation so that no federal agency is exempt. But Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said afterward that he has reservations.
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Obama’s executive order applies to past and future regulations, and any rule is fair game no matter how old, said witness Cass Sunstein, administrator of the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The order seeks to measure and improve results of regulations, increase public participation in the regulatory process and improve coordination among agencies. Agencies are required to consider flexible approaches “that maintain freedom of choice for the public” and work objectively to maintain “scientific integrity.”
"We ought to come back with bipartisan legislation” so that no federal agency can avoid oversight by this or any other administration, Upton said at the hearing: “No agencies should be exempt.” Other Republicans on the committee also raised concerns about the exemption, including Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. Independent agencies make “major rules that cost billions of dollars,” Stearns said after the hearing. “I plan to look into legislation to make sure that these agencies do not enact regulations that harm job creation.” The Oversight Subcommittee “will continue to hold these independent agencies accountable for the rules and regulations they promulgate,” Stearns added. The FCC didn’t return a request for comment.
The leading Democrat on the committee isn’t ready to sign on. “This is a bad idea that would inject more politics and partisanship into the regulatory process,” Waxman told us in an e-mail after the hearing. “Congress established independent agencies by law to insulate technical experts from political interference,” he said. “Congressman Upton is proposing to change those laws to give this and future administrations greater sway over the technical experts. It’s not clear how that will improve government regulations."
The president couldn’t legally include independent agencies in his executive order, but Congress has authority to change the law, Sunstein said. “A cost-benefit analysis is a helpful tool for any government actor, and in that sense I believe its use by the independent agencies would be informative,” Sunstein said. The administration respects the agencies’ independence, but increased oversight would be particularly helpful when preparing reports to Congress on the costs and benefits of regulation, Sunstein said.
Obama asked independent agencies to comply with his regulatory reforms in a small business memorandum that accompanied the executive order, but the request isn’t binding, Sunstein said. Terry, vice chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, asked if the FCC had said whether it will comply, and Sunstein replied that the administration “has not heard.” Independent agencies are required to provide the administration with regulatory plans, Sunstein noted. Terry asked if the FCC provided such plans related to its net neutrality order in December. “I believe so,” said Sunstein. “I know they provided a plan but I don’t recall its exact ingredients."
"The federal regulatory state continues to grow and intrude,” said Stearns. In the middle of a financial crisis, Americans faced an “onslaught” of federal rules, he said. In fiscal year 2009, major new rules added $13 billion in new costs, he said. In FY 2010, federal agencies issued 43 major rules with an estimated price tag of $27 billion, he said. That’s the highest annual cost since 1991, he said.
Democrats cautioned Republicans that not all regulations are job killers. It’s important to remove unnecessary government regulation, but it’s “easy to paint with too broad a brush,” said Waxman. “You need to remember that federal regulations also play a vital role in growing our economy and protecting our health and environment.”