The Senate on Monday confirmed Neomi Rao as the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is tasked with reviewing executive branch regulations.
Rao, 44, a former clerk for conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is tasked with leading a White House agency that will play a leading role in implementing President Trump’s agenda for reforming government rules and regulations.
The Senate confirmed her largely along party lines, in a 54-41 vote.
“I applaud my colleagues in the Senate for confirming Professor Rao’s nomination,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in a statement. “We can all agree that federal regulations should achieve their aim without imposing unnecessary costs on the country’s economy and job creators. I look forward to working with Professor Rao to reduce the burden of regulations – by our best estimates as high as $2 trillion a year – that weigh on the American economy.”
But Rao has bipartisan support, earning the backing of a group of eight former administrators of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, including Republicans and Democrats.
She is the founder of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University.
The center is affiliated with the Antonin Scalia Law School and has reportedly been a beneficiary of a $10 million donation from the Charles Koch Foundation.
Some Democrats have criticized her relationship with the Koch Foundation. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., portrayed Rao as a key cog in Trump’s deregulation efforts.
“If confirmed, professor Rao will be perfectly positioned to put her theories into practice,” Warren said on the Senate floor Monday. “She will head the Trump administration’s efforts to toss out the rules that big businesses don’t like.”
Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency has moved to undo more than 30 rules. He has issued a number of executive orders intended to reduce regulations on industries from banking to farming.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs approves proposed and final rules and government data collections.
Rao will also be tasked with ensuring the Trump administration follows the law as it unwinds rules and regulations.
