Letter from 24 U.S. Senators to OMB, defending public participation and comment rights under APA and NEPA

The letter, invoking Administration Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act public participation and comment rights, reads:

Specifically, we request you take two broad steps:

1. Instruct all federal agencies to indefinitely extend all open or announced upcoming public comment periods for rulemakings and administrative actions not related to the COVID-19 pandemic response; and,

2. Pause any new Administrative rulemaking actions, unless those actions are explicitly required for the COVID-19 response and recovery. If anything, agencies should be focused on how they can redeploy their existing resources to contributing to the federal government's response to this crisis.