Latest from the White House (March 4)

COSSA continues to report on executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here.

‘Radical Transparency’ About Wasteful Spending

As previously reported by COSSA, the Trump Administration has prioritized cutting “government waste” in the first six weeks of his term. On February 18, an Executive Order (EO) was published titled, Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending in which the Administration directs federal agencies to make public “the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation of Federal funds” as DOGE continues to search for “government waste” across the federal agencies (see previous COSSA coverage). This EO comes as multiple lawsuits have been filed against the Trump Administration, freezing orders that are deemed outside the bounds of Presidential authority.  

Deregulation

On February 19, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s DOGE Deregulatory Initiative. According to the order, “It is the policy of [the Trump] Administration to focus the executive branch’s limited enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by constitutional Federal statutes, and to commence the deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state.” In other words, the EO suggests that the Administration will be utilizing a literal interpretation of statute and the Constitution when determining the federal government’s regulatory responsibilities. However, as many know, not every activity of the federal government is spelled out in law; much of that determination is left to the discretion of federal agencies. Taking such an approach could potentially mean a major purging of federal regulations and other activities.

Through this order, the Administration is directing federal agencies, within 60 days, to identify regulations that meet certain criteria, including:

1. “unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution;
2. regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of legislative power;
3. regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition;
4. regulations that implicate matters of social, political, or economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory authority;
5. regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits;
6. regulations that harm the national interest by significantly and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and development, economic development, energy production, land use, and foreign policy objectives; and
7. regulations that impose undue burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.”

Upon completion of this review, federal agencies are directed to terminate “all such enforcement proceedings that do not comply with the Constitution, laws, or Administration policy.” COSSA will be following this action closely, including any legal challenges it may elicit.

Efforts to “Justify” Federal Grants and Contracts

The President’s latest Executive Order once again takes aim at federal funding for grants and contracts. The EO, Implementing the President’s DOGE Cost Efficiency Initiative, seeks to “[commence] a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public.” Under the order, each federal agency is directed to “build a centralized technological system” in which to record all grants and contracts as well as a written justifications for each expenditure. Further, agency leaders are to work with DOGE to review existing grants and contracts and “terminate or modify (including through renegotiation) such covered contracts and grants to reduce overall Federal spending or reallocate spending to promote efficiency and advance the policies of my Administration.” The order also calls for a comprehensive review of each agency’s contracting policies, procedures, and personnel.

The order requires that a similar system be created for tracking and justifying federal employee travel (including travel to conferences) and immediately freezes all credit cards issued to agency employees.

Given the similarities of this Executive Order to earlier efforts to freeze federal funding, legal challenges are likely, especially considering that Congress plays a major role in determining how federal agencies are to use appropriated dollars.

This is a developing story.