Obama Repeals Bush Administration Power Grab
President Bush's Executive Order 13422 significantly increased the power of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over the use of scientific information in making decisions about our health, safety, and environment. The executive order increased White House control over federal agency science-based regulations and made science more susceptible to political interference. UCS activists took a strong stand against this power grab in 2007 when they asked Congress to stop the executive order from taking force.During the presidential campaign, President Obama pledged to repeal Executive Order 13422, and UCS and other groups reminded the presidential transition team of this promise in several meetings. On February 4, 2009, President Obama revoked the executive order and called for the OMB director to create recommendations for a new executive order governing the relationship between the OMB and federal agencies. UCS has already met with the OMB several times to discuss our recommendations to improve that relationship, and will continue to closely monitor the development of new rules to ensure they include appropriate checks and balances for transparency and accountability.
