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The executive order sought to stop furtive rulemaking through guidance documents.
Agencies are making progress on undoing an executive order from President Trump that sought to prevent “unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats” from creating “backdoor regulations.”
In October 2019, Trump issued an executive order that required most agencies to publish guidance documents online and established a process for public comment and interagency review of those documents, except in certain circumstances. Independent agencies were exempt from the order. The law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLC noted at the time that for years courts have been concerned with agencies’ use of guidance documents to justify their enforcement proceedings. However, the Trump administration took a uniquely hostile approach to the civil service.