Trump rolls back array of rules from Obama era
Education, public lands targeted; he vows more reversals.
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 President Barack Obama’s final months in office and comes days after Trump’s effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare” failed. 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,” 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 Trump required federal land managers to con- $3.3 million to $5.8 million for the year, Frankel said. She and Muoio held a news conference on Bingham Island, a spot just west of Mar-aLago along Southern Boulevard where Trump supporters and opponents often gather when the president is in town.
Frankel also said business losses could hit $1 million at the county’s Lantana airport, which is forced to shut down because of flight restrictions when the president visits.
F r a n k e l s a i d i t ’s “n o t likely” that federal money can be secured to offset those losses. A spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Rubio’s office has contacted the Federal Aviation Administration and Secret Service about “accommodations” for businesses hurt by the flight restrictions.
Rubio, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. House members from Palm Beach Count y asked the federal government in December f o r h e l p d e f r ay i n g l o c a l Trump-related costs.
While the county’s concerns have been raised in the past, Monday was the first time Muoio has outlined the massive spending increases she says are needed in West Palm Beach. She said the cit y has faced “increased threats, particularly to our IT systems” and also men- sider 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 authorit y away from state and local officials to the federal government. The signing came the day before Trump was expected to reverse Obama’s signature effort to address climate change, the Clean Power Plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coalfired power plants.
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 , whil e busi ness groups said that it would increase compliance costs.
Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration have made curbing government regulation a top priority this year. Dozens of resolutions pulling back various Obama-era rules have been introduced under an expedited process established through the Congressional Review Act. Under that process, a regulation is invalidated when a simple majority of both chambers pass a joint resolution of disapproval and the president signs it. tioned potential threats to the cit y ’s waterfront and water supply.
Muoio wants $4.3 million a year to hire about 40 emergency response personnel in the police and fire departments, city spokeswoman Kathleen Walter said afterward. The mayor also said $400,000 a year is needed to “harden” the city’s information technology system.
Asked about the increased information technology costs and how it relates to Trump, Muoio said, “I can’t go into it too deeply but we’ve been working with the FBI on attempted hacks. … I think because we are in the spotlight and because people think of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach when they think of the president, it brings more attention to us.”
The city would not reveal details of the $4.3 million in “specialized equipment” that Muoio says is needed, with Walter citing an exemption in Florida’s public records law that covers a “security system plan.”
Frankel and Reps. Ted D e u t c h , D - B o c a R a t o n , and Alcee Hastings, D-Delray Beach, sent a letter to Trump this past week asking for his help securing federal money.
“If compensation is not assured of being forthcoming, we respectfully ask that you curtail your visits until such time as that matter is resolved favorably to our area,” the letter says.
“It would be very unfair if help doesn’t come from Wash i n g t o n a n d i f h e l p d o e s n’ t c o me f r o m t h i s president because the president can make choices,” Frankel said Monday. “He has very nice secure, safe, lovely places he could be even though we live in paradise. But certainly he could save the White House — he could go to Camp David, he can make that choice to limit the expense on our area. … This is really a request to the White House to say, listen, step up to the plate and help us get this money.”
A s s i s t a n t P a l m B e a c h County Administrator Todd Bonlarron also attended the news conference and tried to strike a balance between welcoming Trump and seeking federal money.
“It has real impacts to our county’s budget. The other side of it, too, is we see some real economic benefits as well,” Bonlarron said. “So we do enjoy when the president is here. We like that he’s made this the winter White House. We think it’s a great selection, Palm Beach County, and we encourage more people to keep coming out, heads in beds, people in restaurants. But those dollars don’t always equate to dollars that are coming to the county budget to pay for some of the security and costs to pay for those visits.”