Eugene Scalia, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Labor Department (DOL), moved closer to a Senate confirmation vote as soon as this week after the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved his nomination on a party-line vote.
September 17, 2026
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is threatening to veto a controversial bill championed by Democratic leaders of the state’s legislature that would lock into state law Obama-era worker safety and other rules in a dispute over how to address water supplies.
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OSHA and other agencies appear headed for a continuing resolution (CR) to fund their operations when fiscal year 2020 begins next month after the Senate earlier this week failed to debate the agency’s FY20 spending bill and the House overwhelmingly approved a CR that will fund the government until shortly before Thanksgiving.
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Eugene Scalia, the Trump administration’s nominee to lead the Labor Department (DOL), drew strong criticism from Democratic senators during his Sept. 19 confirmation hearing over his record targeting OSHA and other DOL rules though he stopped short of committing to senators’ requests for new safety and other measures they are seeking.
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A federal judge is asking EPA and environmentalists to respond to a set of questions in a potentially precedent-setting Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) case after an agency lawyer sought to clarify statements she made during recent oral arguments but instead raised new doubts about the agency’s stances on key issues and the suit’s procedural posture.
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Worker and other safety advocates are warning they might sue the Agriculture Department (USDA) over its just-issued rule easing swine slaughter inspection requirements and increasing line speeds, arguing the measure will increase risks to workers that already face some of the highest workplace injury rates in the country.
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Labor and other groups are threatening to sue EPA over allegations that the agency is inadequately releasing information about new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), detailing concerns that they will likely urge the agency to address as it prepares to release a new framework for its new chemicals review process.
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EPA has sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for pre-publication review its final rule aimed at repealing Obama-era changes that tightened facility safety risk management plan (RMP) requirements, moving ahead on the measure after repeated delays.
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House lawmakers still appear divided on legislation that would reauthorize and strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility safety program as the House Energy and Commerce Committee takes up the issue, though they are pledging to continue working towards an agreement.
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A federal judge appeared skeptical of environmentalists’ landmark efforts to pursue claims against EPA under both the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when the agency denied their TSCA section 21 petition seeking rules requiring additional asbestos reporting.
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Administration efforts to address lead-paint dust in residential settings are facing wide-ranging criticisms, with EPA’s Inspector General (IG) charging the program lacks goals or ways to track progress and the agency’s advisors and environmentalists questioning why the agency has yet to update its lead dust clearance standards for contractors.
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OSHA is facing a stakeholder battle as it proceeds with its plan to drop a rulemaking to rescind ancillary provisions from its beryllium rule for the construction sector and instead tailor the provisions, with industry groups suggesting they may sue as the agency lacks evidence for a threshold finding while health groups are citing studies backing the effort.
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OSHA this week unveiled a new voluntary alliance with three major poultry sector trade associations in a bid to allay safety concerns over Agriculture Department (USDA) efforts to ease line speed requirements at processing plants, though labor advocates are strongly criticizing USDA’s actions and calling for stepped-up OSHA scrutiny.
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EPA has issued guidance to aid small business as they work to comply with the agency’s recent ban on consumer uses of paint strippers containing methylene chloride, though it is not clear whether the guidance will address charges from manufacturers that the ban may make it difficult for some small entities to continue to purchase the products.
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House lawmakers appear poised to resume their efforts to renew the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility safety program when they return from their recess, though it is unclear whether their past pledges to seek a bipartisan deal on the issue will bear fruit.
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California legislation that would lock into state law Obama-era worker safety and other rules has cleared a critical Assembly fiscal committee but still faces a fight on the floor of the chamber from powerful industry groups.
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OSHA is gearing up to roll back the Obama administration’s landmark beryllium rule, floating two draft measures for White House review and scheduling a meeting of its construction advisors next month to discuss ways to implement some of the proposed rollbacks, though House Democrats are fighting efforts to undo the requirements.
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EPA is seeking comment on a pair of chemical industry requests asking the agency to assess the risks of two phthalate chemicals, requests that will pose first-time tests for the agency on whether and how it conducts such analysis under the revised toxics law and whether any negative EPA risk finding preempts existing state and federal requirements.
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Major disagreements between California employers and workers are already flaring as Cal/OSHA launches the development of permanent safety rules for wildfire smoke, a draft of which is more stringent than a set of emergency rules the agency’s standards board adopted last month.
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President Donald Trump has formally nominated Eugene Scalia, a leading critic of strict OSHA rules, to lead the Labor Department, sparking a new confirmation fight battle with Senate Democrats and their labor union allies who oppose the administration’s deregulatory agenda.
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