Senate Confirms Top Regulatory Official

Press Release

The U.S. Senate today confirmed Neomi Rao to serve as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget, the administration's top regulatory position. U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a longtime advocate for reforming our nation's broken regulatory process, voted in support of Ms. Rao's confirmation and joined Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) today to reintroduce the Unfunded Mandates and Information Transparency Act. This regulatory reform bill would close loopholes that allow federal agencies to impose mandates on states, local governments, and the private sector without first providing a transparent accounting of their costs.

"I was pleased to vote in support of Neomi Rao's confirmation as OIRA Administrator today. In her role as the nation's top regulatory official, I'm hopeful Ms. Rao will focus on eliminating the misguided federal regulations harming Nebraska families and communities. Cutting through reams of government red tape has long been a priority of mine and I look forward to working with Ms. Rao to continue to do so.

"I'm also proud to join Senator Lankford today in reintroducing common-sense legislation to reform our federal regulatory process. The Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act would promote transparency of the potential costs and effects of new regulations before they are enacted. With this legislation, Congress can help rein in unreasonable rulemaking from the federal government."

Senator Fischer and Senator Lankford's Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act seeks to prevent the spread of unfunded federal mandates, which often impose unnecessary costs and burdens on Nebraska communities. This bill would increase accountability by requiring federal agencies to perform cost analyses and update their accounting structure to include other undocumented costs to the American people.

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