Published February 4, 2024
In the early weeks of the Trump Administration, EPPC Administrative State Accountability Project scholars Rachel N. Morrison, Eric Kniffin, and Natalie Dodson, and EPPC Director of Data Analysis Jamie Bryan Hall submitted public comments to federal agencies in response to several carry-over proposals from the Biden-Harris administration.
The scholars’ comments directed the agencies’ attention to aspects of the proposals that directly conflicted with President Trump’s priorities and policy positions set forth in the following day-one and day-two executive orders:
- Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,
- Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,
- Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, and
- Initial Recission of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions (which rescinded President Biden’s pro-gender ideology and pro-DEI executive orders).
The scholars submitted the following comments:
January 27 comment by Eric Kniffin on the Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed rule “Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly Enhancing Coverage of Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act,” addressing the proposed rule’s requirement that covered entities “promote equitable access to … [p]eople who identify as transgender, nonbinary, and other diverse gender identities, or people who were born intersex.”
January 28 comment by Eric Kniffin and Jamie Bryan Hall on the Department of Health and Human Services’ notice “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Public Comment Request; Centers for Independent Living Program Performance Report,” addressing the notice’s requirement that Centers for Independent Living collect “sexual-orientation and gender-identity (SOGI) data.”
February 3 comment by Rachel Morrison on the Food and Drug Administration’s and Department of Agriculture’s request for information (RFI) on “Food Date Labeling,” addressing the RFI’s prohibition of discrimination on the basis of “gender identity (including gender expression).”
February 3 comment by Rachel Morrison on the Department of Agriculture’s proposed rule, “Self-Help Technical Assistance Grants: Technical Corrections and Program Updates,” addressing the proposed rule’s prohibition of discrimination on the basis of “gender identity (including gender expression).”
February 4 comment by Rachel Morrison on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ proposed rule, “Amendments to the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers,” addressing the proposed rule’s technical edits that would “remove and replace gender specific language … with gender-neutral language.”
March 3 comment by Natalie Dodson on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s proposed rule, “HUD’s Implementation of OMB’s Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance,” addressing the proposed rule’s adoption of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” nondiscrimination provisions.
Rachel N. Morrison is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where she directs EPPC’s Administrative State Accountability Project. An attorney, her legal and policy work focuses on religious liberty, health care rights of conscience, the right to life, nondiscrimination, and civil rights.
