Much like an end-of-season footy trip, the end of a Presidential term — known as the “lame duck” period — is often a time for the outgoing leader to kick their heels up a bit, forget about scandals, losses and injuries, and bask in the fact that they’re still rich, famous and powerful. Instead of a trip to Bali, departing Presidents traditionally let loose with pardons for prisoners and swathe of last-minute rules and appointments known as “midnight regulations”.
As well as a chance to have their final territorial piss on the American political landscape, these regulations tend to serve as a big pain-in-the-arse for the incoming President. Bill Clinton published an unprecedented 26,542 pages of new rules before he departed, a quarter of which Bush was able to overturn, but not without big administrative headaches.
But where many of Clinton’s midnight rules were directed towards improving the environment and public health, Bush is embracing the footy-trip tradition of screwing everything in sight.
ProPublica have been keeping track of the regulations Bush is trying to push through here and Think Progress have created a handy pdf here, but here are a few highlights:
- Lowering the air quality standards for lead
- Making it harder to regulate workers’ exposure to chemicals and toxins
- Relaxing environmental-protection rules on power plants near national parks and uranium mining near the Grand Canyon
- Making it easier for coal companies to dump mining waste into streams and valleys
- Making it easier to build dams and highways without consulting scientists on the environmental impact
- Overturning a 25-year ban on carrying loaded weapons in national parks
- Allowing doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in procedures they find morally objectionable, including abortion
- Allowing truckers to work up to 14 consecutive hours in a day
So what can Obama do once he finally gets control of the reins? The rules take 30 to 60 days to come into effect (the latter is only in the case of rules that will have an economic impact of over $100 million) so he should be able to put a stop to anything that hasn’t begun, assuming he wants to, when he takes office. But regulations that creep in before the final siren will be more difficult — and more costly — to overturn. Bush learnt a good lesson from Clinton’s last days, and has been planning and organising to have his regulations in on time since May.
One possibility is the little-used Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to pass a joint resolution to overturn last-minute administrative rules. Otherwise, it could take years to overturn Bush’s little parting gifts.
Barack Obama will be inaugurated in 44 days, on January 20.
Nope, the article was written from scratch. I’d be pretty surprised to see an American site making footy-trip analogies. Possibly similar information was presented elsewhere, because the facts are what they are. I link to several articles in the story discussing the subject, but my main sources were, as stated, ProPublica and Think Progress’s lists.
Maybe if we became a republic we could have departing presidents bestowing their wish list on us as well.
Bush is revealing himself for what he really is all about. Good riddance.
The article on Bush’s last minute rules passing looks a lot like an article I read on “Alternet” a few days ago.
If a lot was lifted an acknowledgement would surely be required? Also 44days!