On January 20, 2017, the Trump Administration issued a memorandum "for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies" requesting the "regulatory freeze" of almost all pending regulations and policies drafted by the Obama Administration. The memorandum requests that no regulation be sent to the Office of the Federal Register ("OFR") until "a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President ... reviews and approves the regulation." Regulations that were sent to the OFR but not published to the Federal Register by the date the memorandum was published must be withdrawn for review and approval. In addition, regulations that had been published in the OFR but are not yet in effect must have their effective date delayed for at least 60 days "for the purpose of reviewing questions of fact, law, and policy they raise."
There are only two exceptions to the freeze: (i) regulations subject to statutory or judicial deadlines, and (ii) regulations issued for or affecting "emergency situations or other urgent circumstances relating to health, safety, financial, or national security matters, or otherwise."
The memorandum states that the "freeze" applies to "'any substantive action by an agency (normally published in the Federal Register) that promulgates or is expected to lead to the promulgation of a final rule or regulation, including notices of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rulemaking, and notices of proposed rulemaking,' and also covers any agency statement of general applicability and future effect 'that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue.'" Guidance documents are also included.
Recently, three proposed rules issued by USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration issued an extension of comment period "consistent with the memorandum of January 20, 2017." See the delay notices here, here, and here.
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