Trump Admin Aims to Shut Down Public Participation in Federal Rulemaking

For Immediate Release: July 17, 2025
Contact: David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump administration is trying to shut down public participation in the federal rulemaking process, documented in a report released today from the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards. The Trump administration is arguing that agencies can ignore Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requirements when the president directs them to do so – a position that has no support in law – to fast track his agenda.

The APA requires agencies to provide notice of a proposed rule (regardless of whether that rule regulates or deregulates), allow public comments on the proposal, and respond to significant comments. The Trump administration is seeking to evade these requirements by directing agencies to broadly apply a narrow emergency exception to the APA’s notice and comment requirements – in effect eliminating public input on regulatory and deregulatory proposals alike.

“In its unlawful and unprecedented push to cut the public out of the regulatory process, the Trump administration’s goal is ensure that the public will have no say when it rolls back regulations that protect them,” said Sam Berger, author of the report and consultant to the coalition. “In Trump’s first term, courts routinely overturned rules that did not follow the proper procedure.”

“Public participation in rulemaking provides an important form of democratic accountability by requiring agencies to justify their actions and respond to public input,” said Rachel Weintraub, executive director of the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards. “Notice and comment empowers people, regulated industries, and affected communities to share their perspective and shape policy. Trump is unlawfully taking that away.”

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