The new policy, issued by Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, is significant because federal agencies have issued guidance documents on a range of laws covering issues like health care and labor
Posted on 02/11/2018 3:58:55 PM PST by RightGeek
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has adopted new limits on the use of “guidance documents” that federal agencies have issued on almost every conceivable subject, an action that could have sweeping implications for the government’s ability to sue companies accused of violations.
Guidance documents offer the government’s interpretation of laws, and often when individuals or companies face accusations of legal violations, what they have really violated are the guidance documents. Defense lawyers say the change in policy gives them a powerful tool to fend off allegations of wrongdoing against their clients.
It also advances a goal declared by President Trump in his first days in office: to reduce the burden and cost of federal rules and requirements. But consumer advocates say the move will crimp enforcement of crucial protections.
The new policy, issued by the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, Rachel L. Brand, is significant because federal agencies have issued hundreds of guidance documents on a wide range of laws covering issues like health care, the environment, civil rights and labor.
Under the revised policy, Ms. Brand said, the Justice Department will not “use its enforcement authority to effectively convert agency guidance documents into binding rules.” Moreover, she said, Justice Department lawyers, who represent federal agencies in court, “may not use noncompliance with guidance documents as a basis for proving violations of applicable law.”
Continue reading the main story In a footnote, the Trump administration makes clear that the new policy has broad ramifications: It applies to any civil lawsuits filed on behalf of the federal government to “impose penalties for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws.”
It also applies to cases in which the government asserts that health care providers or federal contractors defrauded the government
.....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Given the way the government has taken to wielding and abusing this power to go to war against industry, I can only hope it has far reaching implications.
Overregulation and over litigation are reasons our industrial base has eroded and become non-competitive, and jobs have moved overseas.
Well, I guess this is the type of thing that will help companies like Walmart among others.
Women, children and Democrat activists hardest hurt
Seen this a lot in the med device world where the actual regs CFR820 are not nearly as stringent as the guidance docs. Guidance is the regulators way of saying this is what WE believe it means and if you don’t then you have to prove otherwise in court - else we get the last say - congress be damned.
No, SJW Lawyers hardest hit.
“Guidance documents offer the government’s interpretation of laws, and often when individuals or companies face accusations of legal violations, what they have really violated are the guidance documents.”
It is bad enough that Congress has abdicated to the regulatory state its Constitutional authority as the sole legitimate author of all federal law, so-called “guidance documents” have taken that abuse of executive power a step further, dispensing with even the need to tighten up “regulations” - just write a new “guidance document” - by executive fiat - to include circumstances not considered in the regulation as written.
Putting any form of shackles on the abuses of the regulatory state is a good thing.
Opposition here is alot of the lawyers that are out of work ... Ha Ha
Well a law says what it says. That’s why we have courts to settle who’s interpretation is right.
Actually, that’s rule making. Guidance is more on the level of “advice”. The issue is that rule making is hard, and requires public input.
This is a GREAT improvement. And I work in a highly regulated industry.
I wonder if it's occurred to any of them on the left that he's now laughing at their persistent "outrage."
I would to see the same philosophy applied to the law enforcement agencies they have screwed up.
Guidance documents are just formal intimidation.
Gee, I don’t remember anything about the “news” media reporting on guidance documents issued from the zero administration. Do you think they were helping zero cover them up? DUH!
in med device the FDA has been writing people up for not following guidance for over 10 years and then making them argue why they don’t need to follow the guidance doc.
The new policy, issued by Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, is significant because federal agencies have issued guidance documents on a range of laws covering issues like health care and labor
This is very good news.
Simply said and words of wisdom...
I have worked with laws in the industrial environmental arena off and on for going on 35 years. What I have consistently found is that the letter of the law as written is something that as an engineer, I can find practical ways to work with. I am a problem solver.
Most of the time, I have been involved with implementing something before a no good, rotten guidance has been generated. Thus, I work with the State reg folks to figure out a way to do something then after the solution is put together, it is formalized into requesting a formal determination for which the result of the State's determination is baked into the result by the prior informal preparations involving communications and working meetings to determine what would work consistent with the letter of the law and the reality of field conditions. I assure you, engineers can get more done faster and cheaper without lawyers or regulatory specialists having any involvement.
Fortunately, I have had minimal interactions with Fed regulators (EPA) as they really don't bring much to the table other than pie-in-the-sky edicts. States (most but not all unfortunately) are where things get done. Feds screw up and complicate things with mountains of paper that is really just intended to screw companies out of dollars via creative ways to fund an army of bureaucrat paper pushers and lawyers.
By the 2000’s the Feds effectively completed their conversion from being a useful partner to fully on the dark side. Guidance documents at the Fed level are often fantasy based and serve as the tip of their spear to administratively do things well beyond the simple letter of the law as written. I like written laws, these can be worked with. Jimmy Carter started the dark slide and PDJT is the first president since that has confronted the Fed regulatory monster head on.
Trump is fixing America.
With all these government regulations and crap like these guidance documents it is amazing to me that Any company in the USA is still wanting to stay trying to produce much less compete against others in other countries.
This is worse than Atlas Shrugged.
All this corruption we’ve seen at government agencies like the DOJ, FBI,IRS , EPA etc. proves that government is the problem and so is the news media which wants government to grow.
Policy is non-negotiable. Guidance is supposed to be negotiable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.