After President Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2025, the new administration issued a regulatory freeze effective immediately.
Under the regulatory freeze, federal agencies are ordered to take the following steps:
The freeze applies to regulations published in the Federal Register. It also applies to other types of guidance, including notices of inquiry; advance notices of proposed rulemaking; notices of proposed rulemaking; and agency statements of general applicability and future effect that set forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue.
The new administration issued dozens of other executive orders and memoranda affecting a wide range of issues. One executive order rescinds executive orders that were issued by former President Joe Biden. Others direct federal agencies to issue new proposals or take other actions. The implications of such orders may take time to fully develop.
Note that some rules may be delayed or withdrawn. The freeze does not apply to regulations and guidance that were published and took effect before January 20, 2025, so employers should continue to comply with guidance that is not covered by the freeze.