AEI's Jamison: Independent Agency Autonomy Is a 'Myth'
The White House executive order asserting control over executive branch agencies (see 2502280048) looks “dramatic” but “changes little,” said a blog post Monday from American Enterprise Institute nonresident Senior Fellow Mark Jamison, a former member of President Donald Trump’s transition…
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team. “Independent agencies have long been subject to political influence, and their supposed autonomy is more myth than reality,” Jamison wrote. “For decades, presidents and lawmakers have found ways to steer their agendas.” The order “can be seen as simply formalizing what has already been happening.” Critics “are reacting to an idealized version of regulatory independence that doesn’t exist in practice,” he said. “The real issue isn’t whether presidents exert influence over these agencies -- it’s that agency leaders have often ceded their independence voluntarily, undermining confidence in regulatory neutrality.”