Regulatory czar starts work at White House

{mosads}As he begins work at the White House, Shelanski will be responsible for the 140 rules and proposals currently under review at OIRA, including some that have been stalled there for years.

Critics have chided the Obama administration for its delays in issuing some of those regulations, such as a rule on the amount of dust from silica that workers can be exposed to, which has been held up for more than two years after what was supposed to be a 90-day review.

In his nomination hearing last month, Shelanski said he would work to reduce the delays for new regulations and make the rulemaking process more transparent. Oversight and involvement from the public “is critically important” for crafting regulations, he said.

He also pledged to “institutionalize” President Obama’s initiative to review current rules and get rid of ones that no longer fit, though he avoided weighing in on more controversial topics, such as the role of environmental regulation and the reach of OIRA’s jurisdiction.

Shelanski received little opposition on his way to confirmation.

He was confirmed by a voice vote in both the full Senate and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Shelanski previously served as the director of the economics bureau at the Federal Trade Commission. 

He will be replaced at the agency by Pauline Ippolito, a longtime staffer and current deputy director in the bureau.

Ippolito has served in a variety of roles with the agency for 30 years and has received the highest award available for government executives, the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, for her efforts to protect consumers.

Among her duties were overseeing research and operations.