President Trump has instructed federal agencies to disregard the notice and comment process when repealing supposedly unlawful regulations. In an April 9 memo, he told federal agency and department heads to repeal regulations that are contrary to a list of specific recent Supreme Court decisions. The memo orders agency heads to skip providing a public notice and comment period when doing so is consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act’s “good cause” exception.
Generally, the APA requires agencies to give the public notice of proposed rulemaking and allow time for the submission of public comments. However, the statute’s good cause exception exempts agencies from the notice and comment requirements if an agency finds that the process would be “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.”
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