What’s in the Trump Administration’s Spring Unified Agenda?

After publication and then removal last month, the White House has released the Spring 2025 edition of the Current Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The regulatory agenda is a biannual list of thousands of proposed and final rules that federal agencies plan to advance within the next 12 months.

The January 31^st executive order “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation” (E.O. 14192) directed agencies to eliminate 10 rules or guidance documents for every significant rule added to lower costs; a significantly more aggressive approach compared to the first term’s “one-in, two-out” approach to freeze rules. Coupled with another executive order that would authorize DOGE’s work almost a month later, it was made clear early that the “deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state” was a top priority.

The most recent Unified Agenda is a clear reflection of that priority. Over 60 of the final and proposed rules in the pipeline have titles that begin with “Removal of” or “Elimination,” and over 120 include the word “revision” or “reconsideration.”  While many of these changes may be to obsolete rules, no longer authorized, or administered under different funding, the assumption is that many more will be to Biden-era regulations.

Here’s a sampling of some notable rules pending at different departments and agencies that will rescind or reduce of scope of existing regulations:

USDA: Nondiscrimination in Programs or Activities Conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture - removes gender identity and sexual orientation as protected bases and replaces the term gender with sex.

DOE: Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment - rolls back appliance efficiency standards set by the Biden administration for a range of commercial and residential appliances.

EPA: Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and Motor Vehicle Emission Standards Reconsideration – rescinds the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which found that certain greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare due to their contribution to climate change and provided a legal basis for their regulation.

Interior: Rescission of the Intermittent Energy Rule – rescinds the May 2024 “Rights-of-Way, Leasing, and Operations for Renewable Energy” rule, which outlines how the Bureau of Land Management permits renewable energy projects.

HUD: Rescission of Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Regulation - rescinds the Department’s Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing regulations, which require a participant in an FHA insurance or Multifamily Housing rental assistance program to complete and submit a form supplied by HUD that describes its affirmative fair housing marketing plan.

While a major focus of this administration’s regulatory agenda is on deregulation, there will be new regulations put on the books as well. For example, the FDA plans to finalize a regulation by next May to require labels on the front of food packaging to display certain nutrition information for consumers.

With literally thousands of new and proposed changes to regulations across the Federal government, be sure to take a look at the rules scheduled for finalization by the agencies that regulate your sector.