Reagan gives OMB control over major rule reviews with EO 12291

President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12291 on February 17, 1981, requiring every executive agency to send major rules to the Office of Management and Budget for cost-benefit review before issuance. The order created OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs as the gatekeeper of federal rulemaking. OIRA could indefinitely delay rules it judged failed the cost-benefit test, giving the White House operational veto over the administrative state.