President Trump signed an executive order on February 18, 2025, that fundamentally restructures how independent regulatory agencies operate in relation to the White House. The order, titled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” requires bodies like the SEC, FTC, FCC, FDIC, and CFPB to submit all significant proposed and final regulations to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.
What the order actually does
The executive order establishes two core mechanisms for expanding presidential oversight. First, independent agencies must route their significant regulatory actions through OMB review, a process that has traditionally applied only to executive branch agencies, not independent ones. Second, each affected agency must create a White House Liaison office designed to align the agency’s legal and policy interpretations with those of the Attorney General.
The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee are explicitly carved out from these requirements. Monetary policy decisions remain untouched by the order, preserving the central bank’s autonomy.
The legal backdrop and why it matters now
