How the Trump administration’s ‘midnight rule-making’ could leave a big mark on government

While President Donald Trump continues to deny the results of the election, his administration is beginning to press forward to cement new regulations and other policy changes before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration — rules that will be challenging to undo once they are finalized, according to NBC News.

Three days after the election, the Department of Agriculture sent a proposal to the White House that would allow poultry plants to increase their line speeds — a move that the Obama administration had previously rejected for fear of endangering meatpacking workers.

The proposal is among the 145 rules that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is currently evaluating as a key step in the formal rule-making process for major regulations. Other significant regulations — defined as having a large impact on the economy, the environment, public health and safety, or state and local governments — could come under White House review in the coming days and could potentially be completed before Trump leaves office.

While it’s not likely that all of these draft rules will be finalized before Trump’s term ends, both critics and supporters of the administration say they expect a final burst of regulations to be finalized in the weeks before Jan. 20, as presidents from both parties have done since the Carter administration.

“They’re running up against the clock,” said Nicolas Loris, an economist who focuses on energy and the environment at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. “They need to finish under deadline, but also make sure they cross their t’s and dot their i’s, so they can survive any legal  challenges.”