• Trump signs legislation rolling back Obama-era regulations,
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a handful of measures Monday rolling back Obama-era regulations under the Congressional Review Act.
It’s part of a larger GOP effort to eliminate an array of regulations issued during then-President Barack Obama’s final months in office and comes days after Mr. Trump’s effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare” failed. Mr. Trump has made overturning what he deems government overreach a centerpiece of his first months in office.
“I will keep working with Congress, with every agency, and most importantly, the American people, until we eliminate every unnecessary, harmful and job-killing regulation that we can find,” Mr. Trump said at a White House signing ceremony. “We have a lot more coming.”
Two of the regulations nullified Monday had to do with school performance and teacher preparation programs.
One, issued by the Education Department in October, required that federally funded teacher preparation programs be evaluated based on the academic outcomes of those teachers’ students. Republican senators opposed the rules, arguing such matters should be left to the states.
The other aimed to help states identify failing schools and come up with plans to improve them.
Another rule nullified by Mr. Trump required federal land managers to consider climate change and other long-term effects of proposed development on public lands. The regulation had been imposed by the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees more than 245 million acres of public lands.
Republicans argued the rule, finalized in December, shifted decision-making authority away from state and local officials to the federal government.
The final rule targeted by Republicans had been aimed at forcing government contractors to disclose violations of federal labor laws as they sought more work. The “blacklisting rule” required contractors to disclose violations of 14 federal labor laws, including those pertaining to workplace safety, wages and discrimination.
The White House argued the rule would “bog down” the federal procurement process, while business groups said that it would increase compliance costs.
Meanwhile, regrouping after a rocky few weeks, the White House declared Monday that Mr. Trump doesn’t consider the health care battle to be over, suggesting he may turn to Democrats to help him overhaul the system after his own party rejected his proposal.
As the administration also looked to deflect attention from recent troubles, Mr. Trump on Monday greeted female business owners to a round-table discussion on jobs.
And he established a new White House office run by his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, that will seek to overhaul government functions using ideas from the business sector.
Also, Mr. Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday that will suspend, rescind or flag for review more than a half-dozen measures to curb global warming in an effort to boost domestic energy production in the form of fossil fuels.