OIRA
Definition
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is a White House office inside the Office of Management and Budget that reviews significant federal agency rules before they are proposed or finalized, checking their costs, benefits, and consistency with the president's priorities.
Why it matters
OIRA can delay, weaken, or send back a rule an agency's own experts have already drafted, making it a chokepoint where White House political priorities, and industry lobbying aimed at OIRA rather than the issuing agency, can reshape or stall regulation. Because OIRA review happens largely behind closed doors, it is far less visible to the public than the notice-and-comment process it sits on top of.
Seen in the wild
Executive Order 14215, signed by President Trump on February 18, 2025, required independent agencies like the FCC and SEC to submit their regulations to OIRA for the first time, and OIRA completed review of an FCC telecommunications rule on May 22, 2025, the first FCC rule it had reviewed since 1982.1