Bush Names Recognized Scholar As Regulatory Czar

I was at an NFIB function when I received word that the President had officially nominated Susan Dudley, Director of the Regualtory Studies program at the Mercatus Center to be the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the OMB. Essentially, OIRA's Director is the arbiter of all things regulatory within the federal executive branch - the nation's Reg Czar.

Susan is an old friend and colleague - and the perfect person at the present time to direct OIRA. OIRA's most recent Director, Dr. John Graham, put OIRA on a solid course, ensuring that the twin bedrock principles of sound public policy (benefit-cost analysis and comparitive risk assessment) underpinned OIRA's mission. Susan can carry on that legacy, ensuring the OIRA's draft guidelines on comparitive risk assessment are fully implemented, and invigorating such tools as regulatory budgeting within OIRA's function.

Whoever heads OIRA must understand the full-measure of the regulatory state - the pervasiveness of federal regulations in our daily lives, the cost of those regulations per person, the cost of paperwork - and how those costs ought to be compared to the benefits such regulations may or may not create.

Susan Dudley is not only one of a very few people in the United States who understands this - but she is also one of those very few who can carry that understanding into public policy implementation.

There will be more on the Liberty Blog about this nomination as things progress. Congratulations, Susan! Best of luck on the confirmation process!

- Andrew Langer