Trump Signs Regulatory Freeze for Federal Agencies

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President Trump Enacts Regulatory Freeze and Halts Public Communications for Federal Agencies

by: Food and Drug Law at Keller and Heckman of Keller and Heckman LLP - The Daily Intake

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

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On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum titled, “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” imposing a regulatory freeze on all federal agencies.
The key points of the regulatory freeze are as follows:
- Do not Propose or Issue Any New Rules: Agencies cannot propose or issue any new rules in any manner, including sending them to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), until they are reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed by the President.
- Automatically Withdrawing Unpublished Rules: Any rules that have been sent to the OFR but have not yet been published must be immediately withdrawn to be reviewed by a department head or agency head appointed by the President.
- Delay Effective Date of Already Published Rules: For rules that have been published but have not yet taken effect, agencies are to consider postponing their effective date for 60 days to review any questions of fact, law, or policy. During this period, agencies may open a comment period for public input and consider further delaying the rules if necessary.
The freeze applies not only to rules but also to any substantive agency action, including Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, notices of inquiry, and any agency statement of general applicability that sets forth a policy on any regulatory or technical issue.
This freeze will impact all recently proposed rules by requiring them to undergo a review process, which may lead to the rules being withdrawn, modified, or delayed in implementation. The following recently proposed rules or finalized but not yet effective rules issued by FDA include:
- Revoking the use of red dye No.3 in food and ingested drugs;Proposed rule regarding front-of-package nutrition labeling;Final rule on the nutrient content claim “healthy”; and
- Final rule on requirements for additional traceability (FSMA 204).
Alongside the regulatory freeze, President Trump has directed federal agencies to temporarily stop all public communications. This includes press releases, social media updates, and other public statements. The pause is in effect through February 1.
Keller and Heckman will continue to closely monitor any changes made to pre-existing proposed or finalized rules and any new executive orders or rules promulgated by the new administration.