Originally Posted by
olly
...The POTUS appoints the head of each cabinent member (department), but I find it unlikely that the WH staff can micromanage the minitua inside of every single rulemaking event, in every single department, unless it is extremely politically charged, with outcome that can effect the majority electorate.
You're not really that naive in real life, are you?
You seem to realize that the head of the FAA is a political appointee of the president, as is his boss, the Secretary of Transportation. Do you also realize that the OMB is full of political appointees who work directly for the president, and who are essentially an extension of the WH staff?
When the "final" NPRM left the FAA headed up the chain, it didn't have a cargo cutout. Didn't have one when it reached the OMB. When it came back down, after much industrial lobbying of the president and the NMB, it DID have a cargo cutout. You're suggesting that this change was the idea of the most junior appointee in the process, presumably after everyone above him had approved something else?
Everyone else realizes otherwise.
See:
Why New Pilot Fatigue Rules Took a Rest Stop at OMB - Washington Wire - WSJ