Today President Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing each federal agency and department to identify regulations that the administration considers no longer needed. The President’s Executive Order on Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda requires the head of each agency to designate within 60 days a Regulatory Reform Official (RRO) and the establishment of a Regulatory Reform Task Force composed of the agency RRO, the agency Regulatory Policy Officer, a representative from the agency’s central policy office, and at least three additional senior agency officials. Each Regulatory Reform Task Force will evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations to the agency head regarding their repeal, replacement, or modification. Other entities staffed by officials of multiple agencies, such as the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, shall form Joint Regulatory Reform Task Forces that will implement this EO with the Regulatory Reform Task Forces of their respective agencies. Within 90 days (May 25) of this EO and on a schedule determined by the agency head thereafter, each Regulatory Reform Task Force shall provide a report to the agency head detailing the agency’s progress. Those agencies directors that determine that their agency generally issues very few or no regulations can request a waiver for compliance.

Executive Order on Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/24/presidential-executive-order-enforcing-regulatory-reform-agenda

Republican House Appropriators indicated this week that they have been authorized to begin negotiations with their Senate counterparts on completing the 11 remaining FY17 appropriations bills. The current continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government expires on April 28. Congress may try to pass the bills individually or, as Republican House Appropriators proposed to their leadership this week, in one big omnibus. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said that Republicans will not support a CR funding the Department of Defense through the remainder of FY17. And House Energy Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-ID) said that he is not supportive of an effort to just pass a defense spending bill and then do a CR for the remaining 10 bills. An omnibus also is the most practical approach given that the House is only scheduled to be in session 28 days from now until April 28 while the Senate is scheduled to be in session 33 days during that same time period.

Thornberry also mentioned this week that he expects the administration to submit their FY17 defense supplemental spending request to Congress by March 1. It was originally reported that Defense Secretary Mattis had sent a memo to his department requiring that the FY17 budget amendment request be delivered to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) no later than March 1, 2017.

The President signed four executive orders this week – one providing an order of succession within the Department of Justice, another directing the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to “break the back of criminal cartels”, another forming a task force on reducing violent crime, and the final one directs planning to stop crime and crimes of violence against law enforcement.

Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice

This Executive Order (EO) replaces a previous EO issued by President Trump on January 13. It provides for an order of succession at the Department of Justice in the event that the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, and any officers designated by the Attorney General have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General. The new order of succession following the incapacitation of all of the above individuals is the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, followed by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. The January 13 EO established the succession order as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice Executive Order

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/10/providing-order-succession-within-department-justice

Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking

The EO directs the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence to co-chair and direct the existing interagency Threat Mitigation Working Group (created by President Obama in 2011 to identify transnational organized crime networks that present a sufficiently high national security risk) to:

• Work to support and improve the coordination of Federal agencies’ efforts to identify, interdict, investigate, prosecute, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations within and beyond the United States;
• Work to improve Federal agencies’ provision, collection, reporting, and sharing of, and access to, data relevant to Federal efforts against transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations;
• Work to increase intelligence and law enforcement information sharing with foreign partners battling transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, and to enhance international operational capabilities and cooperation;
• Assess Federal agencies’ allocation of monetary and personnel resources for identifying, interdicting, and dismantling transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, as well as any resources that should be redirected toward these efforts;
• Identify Federal agencies’ practices, any absence of practices, and funding needs that might hinder Federal efforts to effectively combat transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations;
• Review relevant Federal laws to determine existing ways in which to identify, interdict, and disrupt the activity of transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, and ascertain which statutory authorities, including provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act, could be better enforced or amended to prevent foreign members of these organizations or their associates from obtaining entry into the United States and from exploiting the United States immigration system;
• Issue quarterly reports detailing convictions in the United States relating to transnational criminal organizations and their subsidiaries;
• Identify methods for Federal agencies to coordinate with State, tribal, and local governments and law enforcement agencies, foreign law enforcement partners, public-health organizations, and non governmental organizations in order to aid in the identification, interdiction, and dismantling of transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations;
• Consult with the Office of National Drug Control Policy in implementing this order; and
• Within 120 days of the date of this order, submit to the President a report on transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations and issue additional reports annually thereafter.

Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/09/presidential-executive-order-enforcing-federal-law-respect-transnational

Executive Order on Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety

This EO directs the Attorney General to establish a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. The Task Force shall exchange information and ideas and develop strategies to reduce crime (in particular illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime), identify deficiencies in existing laws, evaluate the availability and adequacy of crime-related data and identify measures that could improve data collection, and conduct any other studies and develop any other recommendations as directed by the Attorney General. The Task Force must submit at least one report to the President within one year.

Executive Order on Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/09/presidential-executive-order-task-force-crime-reduction-and-public

Executive Order on Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers

The Attorney General is directed to develop a strategy to use existing Federal laws to prosecute individuals who commit or attempt to commit crimes of violence against Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement officers and to coordinate with State, tribal, and local governments, and with law enforcement agencies at all levels to prosecute these crimes. The AG will also review existing Federal laws to determine whether they are adequate, make recommendations to the President for legislation to address the gaps in protection and safety of law enforcement officers, coordinate with other Federal agencies to develop an executive branch strategy on the issue, and evaluate grant funding programs and make recommendations to the President for any changes to grant funding.

Executive Order on Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/09/presidential-executive-order-preventing-violence-against-federal-state

Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees Executive Order

The President signed an Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Employees executive order last weekend. The EO does the following:

1. Requires all Executive Branch appointees to sign a pledge and contractual obligation to:
   1. Not lobby any agency in which they served for five years after they leave
   2. Abide by the post-employment restrictions in section 207(c) of Title 18, US Code if they were a covered employee
      1. Sec 207(c) of Title 18, US Code – https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/207
   3. Not lobby covered officials or non-SES appointees for the remainder of the Administration
   4. Not act on behalf of foreign governments or foreign political parties (lifetime ban)
   5. Not accept gifts from lobbyists or lobbying organizations
      1. Gift Definition – https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/2635.203
   6. Not engage for 2 years in a matter that is related to their former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts
   7. For a period of 2 years, not participate in a matter on which they lobbied during the previous 2 years if they were a registered lobbyist
   8. Agree that any hiring or employment decisions that he/she makes will be based on a candidate’s qualifications, competence, and experience.

2. Each federal agency will establish rules or procedures for:
   1. Ensuring each appointee signs the pledge.
   2. Ensures compliance with the EO.
   3. Adopt rules or procedures as necessary or appropriate to:
      1. Carry out the EO
      2. Apply the lobbyist gift ban
      3. Authorize limited exceptions to the lobbyist gift ban
      4. Make it clear that no person shall have violated the lobbyist gift ban if they properly dispose of the gift
      5. Ensure existing rules and procedures for employees engaged in negotiations for future employment don’t affect integrity
      6. Ensure, in consultation with OPM Director, that the hiring or employment decisions requirement (H in the above list) is honored

3. Enforcement
   1. The commitments in the pledge are enforceable by any legally available means:
      1. Debarment proceedings or civil judicial proceedings for declaratory, injunctive, or monetary relief
   2. Anyone who violates the pledge can be barred from engaging in lobbying activities with respect to that agency for up to 5 years in addition to the 5-year time period covered by the pledge.
   3. Attorney General is authorized to:
      1. Request any appropriate federal investigative authority to conduct investigations of a possible breach
      2. Commence a civil action in US District Court if a breach has occurred.
      3. Request relief including:
         1. Temporary restraining orders and preliminary and permanent injunctions
         2. Establishment of a constructive trust for payment to the US Treasury

Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees Executive Order:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/28/executive-order-ethics-commitments-executive-branch-appointees

Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs Executive Order

The President also signed an executive order for reducing regulations and controlling regulatory costs. The EO requires that whenever an executive department or agency publicly proposes for notice or comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it has to identify two existing regulations to be repealed. The total costs for all new regulations, including repealed ones, cannot be greater than zero for FY17. Any new incremental costs associated with new regulations have to be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at least two prior regulations.

Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs Executive Order

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/30/presidential-executive-order-reducing-regulation-and-controlling

OMB Memo: Interim Guidance Implementing Section 2

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/02/interim-guidance-implementing-section-2-executive-order-january-30-2017