Skip to main content
main content, press tab to continue
Article | Insider

New administration issues regulatory freeze and other orders

By Ann Marie Breheny , William “Bill” Kalten and Benjamin Lupin | January 27, 2025

Implications of the regulatory freeze are developing, but employers should continue to comply with regulations and guidance that were published or took effect before January 20, 2025.
Benefits Administration and Outsourcing Solutions|Health and Benefits|Retirement
N/A

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:

  • Not propose or issue any rule until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the president reviews and approves it — unless the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) deems the rule necessary for an emergency or other urgent situation, including the need to meet a statutory or judicial deadline
  • Withdraw rules that have been sent to the Federal Register but have not been published
  • Consider postponing for 60 days the effective date of rules that have been published or issued but have not taken effect, then opening a comment period and reevaluating pending petitions involving such rules (agencies should consult with the OMB director on what action to take for rules that raise substantial questions of fact, law or policy during this postponement)

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Note that some rules may be delayed or withdrawn.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.

Authors


Senior Legislative Advisor

Senior Director, Retirement and Executive Compensation

Senior Regulatory Advisor, Health and Benefits

Contact us