WASHINGTON

Trump executive order builds on regulatory reform efforts by Clinton, Obama

Gregory Korte
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Flanked in the Oval Office by corporate executives representing industries from pharmaceuticals to steel to agriculture, President Trump said Friday that his latest executive order would create jobs by repealing and simplifying existing regulations.

"Excessive regulation is killing jobs driving companies out of the country like never before," Trump said. "This executive order is one of many ways we’re going to get real results when it comes to eliminating job-killing regulations."

But the executive order Trump signed Friday — requiring federal agencies to appoint a regulatory reform officer — appeared to be a relatively small step to implement similar efforts by his predecessors.

The new regulatory reform officers, which each agency must appoint within 60 days, would run would run agency-level regulatory reform task forces. They would be responsible for enforcing existing executive orders that already attempt to exert White House control over increasingly complicated agency regulations. They include:

► Trump's own Executive Order 13771, which requires agencies to eliminate two old regulations for each one new regulation. Advocacy groups have already filed suit to block that order, saying it violates laws requiring agencies to adopt regulations implementing safeguards passed by Congress.

► President Barack Obama's Executive Order 13563, which ordered agencies to conduct a regulatory "lookback" to root out old regulations that were unnecessary or redundant.

► President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 12866, which requires an analysis of every new regulation to ensure "that the benefits of the intended regulation justify its costs."

The White House would not explain the executive order, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer excluded USA TODAY and other news organizations from the daily press briefing held after Trump signed it.

The order is the latest in a series of executive actions targeting regulations. On the first day of the Trump White House, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus ordered a "freeze" on any new regulations for 60 days.Trump has also signed orders specifically targeting regulations on health insurance and consumer protection.

Environmental and consumer advocates said the order continues an assault on regulations.

"The regulations that these companies want to get rid of are not little paperwork forms," said Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It’s pretty clear what the goal is, to allow industrial polluters to get rid of those standards to protect the environment, health and safety."

In a ceremony to sign the executive order Friday, Trump thanked a group of assembled CEOs who helped to craft the directive — even offering Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris a token of appreciation for his work on the issue. "Should I give this pen to Andrew?" Trump said.

Other industry leaders attending included executives from Johnson & Johnson, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin, U.S. Steel, Archer Daniels Midland and 3M.

Trump said every new and existing regulation should be able to pass a simple test: "Does it make life better or safer for American workers and consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it and getting rid of it quickly,"