Congress laid out the basic framework under which rulemaking is conducted when it enacted the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 1946. It remains the basic legislative standard even though its processes have been affected by more recent statutes.

Of course, setting administrative procedure is not the only way Congress directs agency decision-making. In addition to substantive program legislation, Congress also monitors agency performance. It uses the appropriations process, approval of presidential appointees, investigations, oversight, and the legislative veto.

While the lawmakers marshal this arsenal of weapons, the White House wages its own battles to bring agency activity in line with presidential objectives.

In addition to presidential powers over the appointment and removal of agency heads and formulation of agency budgets, the chief executive has vast communication resources available to him. He can go on television, hold press conferences, give speeches, form commissions, and use a variety of other tactics to rally public and congressional support behind a program or policy.

Recent presidents have also made effective use of executive orders. The Reagan Administration in particular transformed the rulemaking process through several executive orders that placed centralized and coordinated regulatory review powers in the Office of Management and Budget. The Reagan executive orders were kept in place during the Bush administration, and amended and consolidated by President Clinton with Executive Order 12866, which left in place the basic principle of centralized review at OMB.

While the APA and Executive Order 12866 are the dominant influences today on rulemaking, there are other statutes and congressional controls that also affect rulemaking.