Most Major Federal Rules Wait 60 Days to Take Effect, and Significant Ones Face OMB Review

A federal rule generally does not take effect the day an agency writes it. Rules can pass through a public proposal, a comment period, possible OMB review and, for the largest rules, a waiting period that Congress can use.

The main steps come from the Administrative Procedure Act, the Executive Order on regulatory review, and the Congressional Review Act. The sections below follow those sources in order, from the first public notice to the date a rule can take effect.

The Proposed Rule Starts in the Federal Register

Under 5 U.S.C. 553, the process starts with a general notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register. The exception applies when the affected persons are named and actually notified.

The notice must state the time, place and nature of the rulemaking proceedings. It must also cite the legal authority for the proposal and include either the terms or substance of the proposed rule, or a description of its subjects and issues.

A 2023 amendment added a further requirement. The notice must give an internet address for a plain-language summary of the proposed rule, no more than 100 words long, posted under section 206(d) of the E-Government Act of 2002, commonly known as Regulations.gov. Public Law 118-9 added the requirement and was enacted on July 25, 2023.

Major Rules With Mismatched Effective Dates
GAO found that 119 of 462 major rules issued from Jan. 21, 2021, to Jan. 20, 2025, had effective dates inconsistent with the Congressional Review Act’s 60-day waiting period.

Comment Period and the Statement in the Final Rule

After the notice, the agency must give interested persons a chance to take part. They may submit written data, views or arguments, with or without an oral presentation.

Once it has considered what it received, the agency must include a concise general statement of the rule’s basis and purpose in the adopted rule.

A different track applies when a statute requires a rule to be made on the record after an agency hearing. In that case, sections 556 and 557 of the same title apply instead of the standard comment provision.

When Agencies Can Skip Notice and Comment

Section 553 does not apply to the extent a matter involves a military or foreign affairs function of the United States. It also excludes matters relating to agency management or personnel, or to public property, loans, grants, benefits or contracts.

Interpretative rules, general statements of policy, and rules of agency organization, procedure or practice are exempt from the notice requirement. That exemption does not apply where another statute requires notice or a hearing.

An agency can also proceed without notice when it finds for good cause that notice and comment are impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest. It must state that finding and its reasons in the rule.

Separately, a substantive rule generally must be published or served at least 30 days before its effective date. Exceptions include rules that grant or recognize an exemption or relieve a restriction, and cases where the agency finds good cause and publishes that finding with the rule.

OMB Review for Significant Rules

Executive Order 12866, titled Regulatory Planning and Review, governs the review of significant regulatory actions by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, known as OIRA, within the Office of Management and Budget. The order was issued by President William J. Clinton in 1993.

A regulatory action generally is significant if it is likely to result in a rule that may have an annual economic effect of $100 million or more. A rule may also be significant if it materially and adversely affects the economy, a sector of it, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local or tribal governments.

There are three further categories. A rule may be significant if it creates a serious inconsistency or otherwise interferes with an action taken or planned by another agency, if it materially changes the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees or loan programs, or if it raises novel legal or policy issues.

After Federal Register publication of a significant action, the agency and OMB must make the documents exchanged during review available to the public. The agency must also identify substantive differences between the draft sent to OMB and the published rule, and say which changes were made at OMB’s suggestion or recommendation.

Officials said they were uncertain about what counts as the date Congress receives a rule.

The 60-Day Delay for Major Rules

Under the Congressional Review Act, an agency must submit a report on a rule to each House of Congress and to the Comptroller General before the rule can take effect. The report includes a copy of the rule, a general statement that says whether it is a major rule, and the proposed effective date.

A major rule generally takes effect after 60 days from the later of two dates: the date Congress receives the report, or the date the rule is published in the Federal Register, if it is published. The statute does not define what counts as receipt by Congress. A separate provision applies when Congress passes a disapproval resolution and the President vetoes it.

A major rule is one that the OIRA Administrator determines has resulted in, or is likely to result in, an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more. It also covers a major increase in costs or prices, and significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity or innovation, including U.S. firms’ ability to compete abroad.

Congress may review and disapprove agency rules for 60 days using special procedures. If a disapproval resolution is enacted, the rule has no force or effect, and a substantially similar rule may not be issued unless later legislation specifically authorizes it.

For major rules, GAO must report to Congress on whether the agency complied with the regulatory process, no later than 15 calendar days after the rule is submitted to Congress or published in the Federal Register, whichever is later. GAO does not assess the substance or quality of the rulemaking.

What GAO Found About Effective Dates, 2021 to 2025

GAO report GAO-26-107825, Congressional Review Act: Agencies and Congress Could Improve Implementation of 60-Day Delay for Major Rules, was released on April 16, 2026. It examined how four agencies, Agriculture, Energy, Health and Human Services and Treasury, implemented the 60-day delay.

For major rules issued from January 21, 2021, to January 20, 2025, agencies published effective dates inconsistent with the 60-day waiting period for 119 of 462 rules. That is about one quarter of the rules in the period.

GAO said HHS sometimes set the effective date 60 days from the date the Federal Register displays a rule for public inspection, rather than from official publication as the statute requires. HHS officials said those rules are long and complex and take weeks to process for publication.

GAO found that Energy and Treasury could have increased the number of compliant rules by routinely setting effective dates 75 days after Federal Register publication. Energy sometimes uses that timing, but no department policy formalizes the practice.

Officials at all four agencies told GAO that it was hard to determine the date Congress receives a rule. GAO suggests Congress amend the Congressional Review Act to specify receipt, such as delivery to a designated office.