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White House freezes new regulations

Posted at 8:52 PM, Jan 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-20 20:52:21-05

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is putting a freeze on any new regulations and halting ones that former President Barack Obama’s administration had started.

A memo from White House chief of staff Reince Priebus says federal agencies shouldn’t submit any completed regulations to be published in the Federal Register until President Donald Trump’s administration can review them.

The memo also freezes any regulations that were in the pipeline to be published. Regulations that have already been published but haven’t kicked in are to be postponed for 60 days to allow for a review.

Priebus says the White House budget director can grant exceptions to allow critical regulations to move forward.

The memo is similar to one that Obama’s chief of staff issued the same day Obama was inaugurated in 2009.