Obama nominates new regulatory czar

President Barack Obama announced he will nominate Federal Trade Commission official Howard Shelanski to serve as the head of the Office of Information and Regul...

President Barack Obama announced he will nominate Federal Trade Commission official Howard Shelanski to serve as the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

The top spot at OIRA, which is charged with reviewing federal regulations and overseeing the government’s privacy and information policies, has been vacant since Cass Sunstein stepped down last August.

Boris Bersheyn, the general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, has been serving as acting OIRA administrator since Sunstein’s departure.

Shelanski now serves as the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics, a position he has held since May of last year, although he first joined the agency in 2009. He is currently on leave from the Georgetown University Law Center.

He is no stranger to official Washington, having served as the chief economist at the Federal Communications Commission and the Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton administration.

He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — regarded as one of the most conservative justices — and received his doctorate and law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

If confirmed, Shelanski will oversee an office that has long served as a lighting rod for criticism of the administration’s regulatory agenda.

RELATED STORIES:

Cass Sunstein stepping down from OIRA

House Republicans blast OIRA over late regulations report

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Amelia Brust/Federal News Networkmanagement workforce

    More guardrails needed for any potential agency relocations, federal advocates say

    Read more
    (Getty Images/iStockphoto/wildpixel)Whistle blower or whistleblower concept as a symbol of a secret informer agent posing as an employee with his cast shadow of a whistle as a metaphor for inside infoermation on misconduct in a 3D illustration style.

    Justice Department’s new whistleblower program

    Read more