2. Executive Office of the President · Minor · Needs Congress
Reverse the decline in OIRA funding
Printed page 49 2. Executive Office of the President
“Because OIRA review often leads to fewer regulatory burdens, more regulatory benefits, and better coordination of regulatory policy, funding for OIRA tends to pay large dividends. Yet over the years, funding for OIRA has diminished. This trend should be reversed.”
What has happened
- Attempted
The President's Budget asks Congress to reverse the decline. The FY2027 Budget Appendix breaks OMB's Salaries and Expenses account into program activities, and the line for Information and Regulatory Affairs runs $15 million actual in 2025, $17 million estimated in 2026 and $20 million requested for 2027 — a third more than OIRA spent in the administration's first year, and the largest proportional increase of any OMB program line except the reconciliation work. A Budget request is a formal administration request, which is as far as the executive can take a Requires-Congress ask on its own; the appropriation is Congress's to make.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Read the Executive Office of the President chapter of the FY2027 Appendix in full (identification code 011-0300, Obligations by program activity, line 0009). The same chapter shows OMB’s direct civilian full-time equivalent employment rising from 500 actual in 2025 to 645 requested for 2027, but does not break FTEs out by program activity, so it cannot be read as an OIRA staffing figure. The Appendix’s govinfo package (BUDGET-2027-APP) carries a date issued of 3 April 2026, which is the event date used here.
- Action
- expand
- Object
- OIRA funding
- ID
- 48