Legal Debate Erupts Over Signatures on Federal Regulations

A legal theory being used to scrutinize hundreds of Health and Human Services Department regulations from the Obama administration isn’t supported by case law, regulatory analysts say.

The Supreme Court has held that rulemaking authority must be exercised by a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said in a May 2 letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

“Does HHS delegate or otherwise authorize employees other than the Secretary to sign regulations?” the letter asked. “Please provide the number of regulations that have been signed by any federal employee who was not an Officer of ...