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The Trump Administration is yet again callously endangering the safety and wellbeing of everyday Americans. HHS recently proposed to automatically “sunset,” or expire, any HHS regulation that the agency does not review within a short time frame.
https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/State-Attorneys-General-Comment-Letter-on-sunsetting-of-HHS-regulations1.pdf
https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/State-Attorneys-General-Comment-Letter-on-sunsetting-of-HHS-regulations1.pdf
The rule would require that some 2,500 existing regulations be assessed in the two years immediately following. Not only would this be an enormous undertaking, but it would also threaten critical programs like Medicaid, food safety, and medical and pharmaceutical research.
This attempt by the Administration will mire HHS in red tape during a global pandemic when the country needs the agency’s resources most, and it will make it nearly impossible for the incoming Administration to enact new pandemic-related regulations.
I joined other AGs across the country in submitting a comment letter opposing the Department’s misguided proposal. We argue that the proposed rule:
Is unprecedented and dramatic in scope and poses a threat to the States’ healthcare systems.
Is unprecedented and dramatic in scope and poses a threat to the States’ healthcare systems.
Is legally questionable since it claims to implement the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which Congress enacted to minimize the impact regulations have on small entities with limited resources. Instead, the rule would add expiration dates to all HHS regulations.
HHS lacks the legal authority for such action. Will drain agency resources and create significant uncertainty for state programs that would have to deal with the consequences if the federal regulations they rely on suddenly expired.
Is deeply problematic given it was proposed just a month before a new president takes office and while the country continues to weather the pandemic, and gives the public only 30 days to comment, in spite of the fact that it impacts 18,000 regulations.
