Congress Changes Hands, but Citizens Can Still Petition to Cut Red Tape

The election is over, the returns are in, and a lot of conservatives are doing what people do after a hard night: staring at the ceiling and wondering what is left to do. Let me give you a better use of the evening. Reports on and after November 4 say that Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate on November 3, and the 120th Congress begins on January 3, 2027. Republicans will be the minority in both chambers.

So here is the realistic assessment, folks. Nobody should expect a regulatory-reform statute out of that Congress. But here is the part the doom-mongers leave out: the most powerful tools for cutting red tape were never in Congress's hands alone. They are in the law books right now, available to any citizen with a laptop and a little patience. A Congress controlled by the other party cannot take away your right to petition an agency, comment on a rule, read the agenda or ask for a meeting. Those rights belong to you, not to whoever runs the Capitol.

This is a playbook. The steps are plain and exact. Follow them in order.

What the law guarantees you

Before the steps, here is the constitutional ground you stand on. The First Amendment protects "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 turns that general right into specific procedures that apply to every federal agency. You do not need a lawyer, a lobbyist or a title. You need a clear request, a citation and a deadline.

For some context on why these tools matter: the Federal Register carried 3,248 final rules in 2024 and, by the Competitive Enterprise Institute's count, 2,441 in 2025. That is a lot of rules, and each one was proposed, commented on and finalized through a process that welcomes public participation. Most people never use it. The few who do have an outsized effect. For the broader background, read The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 Was a Truce, and It Still Shows.

Step 1: Petition the agency to issue, amend or repeal a rule

This is the single most underused right in the book. Section 553(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act, found at 5 U.S.C. 553(e), says that each agency "shall give an interested person the right to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule." That is the entire provision. If a rule hurts you, your business or your community, you may ask the agency in writing to change it or get rid of it.

What to do:

1. Identify the rule. Find its citation in the Code of Federal Regulations, for example "40 CFR Part 60" for an EPA standard or "29 CFR 1910" for a Labor Department safety rule. The Federal Register page where the rule was published is the best reference, and Your Questions About the Code of Federal Regulations, Answered Plainly explains how to read the numbering.
2. Find out whether the agency has its own petition procedure. Many agencies publish instructions on their websites for submitting a petition for rulemaking. Follow them. If you cannot find any, send the petition to the agency's general counsel or the office that wrote the rule, with a copy to the agency's rulemaking docket.
3. State what you want. Name the rule, cite the section, and say whether you want it repealed, amended or replaced. Quote the language you want changed. Propose substitute wording if you can.
4. Say why. Give the facts: cost, burden, effect on jobs or families, a better alternative, a change in technology that made the rule obsolete. Attach evidence, such as data, studies and examples with dates. Be specific and be accurate.
5. Cite the authority. Say that you are petitioning under 5 U.S.C. 553(e).
6. Ask for an answer by a date. The APA also requires, at 5 U.S.C. 555(e), that when an agency denies a petition, it must give prompt notice and a brief statement of the grounds for denial. Keep a copy of your petition, the date you sent it and proof of delivery.

A word about what to expect. An agency is not required to grant your petition. But it must respond, and a denial that gives no reasons is open to challenge. In Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), the Supreme Court reviewed the EPA's denial of a petition for rulemaking under the Clean Air Act and held the denial arbitrary and capricious, so an agency cannot simply wave a petition away, though the case turned on that statute's review provision. A well-documented petition from a trade group, a state official or a group of citizens can start a process the agency cannot easily wave away. And a new administration in January 2029, or later, will find a record of petitions waiting for it.

Step 2: Comment on proposed rules at regulations.gov

Every proposed rule that goes through notice-and-comment appears in the Federal Register and on the government's rulemaking portal, regulations.gov. Section 553(c) of the APA requires the agency to give interested persons an opportunity to participate by submitting written data, views or arguments. Then the agency must consider the comments and, when it issues the final rule, include a statement of its basis and purpose. Courts require the agency to respond to significant comments.

What to do:

1. Search regulations.gov by agency, topic or keyword to find open proposals. Each has a docket number and a deadline, usually 30 to 60 days after publication.
2. Read the proposal. At least read the summary, the section titled "Supplementary Information" and the part that describes the costs.
3. Write a substantive comment. Numbers beat adjectives. State who you are, how the proposal affects you, which sections you are addressing, and what change you want. If you have data, attach it. If you have a cheaper way to reach the same goal, say so.
4. Answer the agency's questions. Proposals usually ask specific questions. Responding to them directly gets your comment read.
5. Submit before the deadline. Late comments need not be considered.
6. Keep the confirmation number.

A comment is not a vote. A thousand identical form letters carry less weight than one comment with real data. The agency is required to respond to the arguments, not to count them. That is why a specific, well-sourced comment from a small business owner can change a final rule. You can also file a comment on the record as a foundation for a later court challenge, because a party that did not raise an argument during the comment period may have trouble raising it later.

Step 3: Read the Unified Agenda

The federal government regularly publishes the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, and reginfo.gov, a site run by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, lists the editions going back to fall 1995. It describes what each agency plans in the near and long term, along with a rough timetable.

What to do:

1. Open the most recent agenda at reginfo.gov and search by agency or keyword.
2. Look at the stage of each item. Items are sorted by how far along they are, from early thinking to proposed and final rules, and there is a category for long-term actions. Read the site's own explanation of each label.
3. Flag the ones that touch you and note the dates. The best time to influence a rule is before it is proposed, when the agency's mind is still open.
4. Check for deregulatory items. The agenda lists those too. If an agency plans to repeal a rule, you may want to support the repeal with a comment that gives the agency a record to rely on in court. For the reason that matters, see the next post in this series on why a repeal needs a record, Why a Democratic Congress Cannot Easily Undo a President's Deregulation.

Step 4: Ask for an Executive Order 12866 meeting with OIRA

When an agency sends a significant rule to the White House for review, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, part of the Office of Management and Budget, reviews it under Executive Order 12866, signed by President Clinton in 1993. Under OIRA's published practice, outside parties may request a meeting about a rule under review through reginfo.gov. OIRA describes these as listening sessions, and it posts the subject, date and participants of each meeting, along with any written materials, on reginfo.gov.

What to do:

1. Find the rule under review by searching reginfo.gov's "Review" section. The listing shows the agency, the title and the date the rule was received.
2. Request a meeting using the contact information on the rule's entry or the OIRA request instructions on the site. State the rule, who you are and what you wish to discuss.
3. Prepare a short briefing. One or two pages: the issue, your evidence, your requested change. Bring the same points you made in your comments.
4. Attend, and send a follow-up. Afterward send a short thank-you with any additional data, and remember that the meeting is a matter of public record.

The review stage is a narrow window. Once the review ends, the rule is typically published. This step is especially useful for businesses, trade associations and state or local governments with concrete data on the cost of a rule. It is not for casual comment; it is for informed objections at a moment when changes are still possible. See The Small White House Office That Reads Every Major Rule Before You Do for how that office works. A caution: executive orders are policy of the President in office and can be amended or replaced, so confirm on reginfo.gov how the review process currently operates before you build a plan around it.

Step 5: Ask a member of Congress to request a GAO study

The Government Accountability Office is the audit and investigative arm of Congress. It does its work for Congress, and its reports are public. Check gao.gov for who may make a request and how, because the rules depend on the requester's role. In the minority, a Member can still ask, though a committee request carries more weight.

What to do:

1. Define a narrow question. "Why does this agency's permit take years?" is better than "Review the agency." GAO studies are most useful when they ask something measurable: how long, how much, how many.
2. Find the right Member. Use the representatives page to identify your Representative and Senators, and look for one who sits on the committee that oversees the agency.
3. Write a short request letter to the Member's office, including the question, the facts you know and why it matters to the district.
4. Offer to meet or provide documents. Staff handle these requests, and a constituent with documentation and a clear question is an asset.
5. Follow the results. GAO reports are posted at gao.gov. A GAO finding gives future reformers an official source to cite.

Under the Congressional Review Act, the Comptroller General provides a report on each major rule to the committees of jurisdiction within 15 days of its submission or publication, and that provision is covered in The Congressional Review Act Lets Congress Veto a Rule, if It Moves in Time. The study you request may be the foundation of a later legislative or administrative fix.

What about the courts and the Information Quality Act?

Two more tools deserve mention, though they are more specialized than the five steps.

• The Information Quality Act of 2000 directs agencies to ensure the quality of the information they use and disseminate, and requires each agency to provide a process for citizens to request correction of information they believe is wrong. If a rule rests on a study or a data set you can show is flawed, a correction request puts the flaw on the record.
• A FOIA request can surface the documents behind a rule: the analyses, the meeting records, the communications with outside groups. See How to File a FOIA Request and Get a Federal Agency to Answer You for the procedure.

I am not a lawyer for you, and this is general information. If your matter involves legal rights, deadlines or money, talk to a licensed attorney. What this post can do is show the doors that are open.

A realistic frame for the next two years

Let me close the strategy with some honest humor. A conservative who tells you that nothing can be done until the next election is selling you a very comfortable kind of despair. It is easy. It asks nothing. And it is wrong. Notice who uses these tools: regulated industries, advocacy groups, trade associations and law firms, every day, in both parties' administrations. They are not waiting for a statute. They file petitions and comments and ask for meetings, and the rules that bind your family and your employer are shaped by whoever showed up.

Here is the practical sequence for a household, a small business or a local civic group:

1. Pick one rule that costs you something real.
2. Read the Unified Agenda to see whether the agency has plans for it.
3. Write a petition under section 553(e) or a comment on the open proposal.
4. If the rule is under White House review, request a meeting.
5. Ask your Member of Congress to request a GAO study of the program.

One rule, five steps, and you have used every tool the law gives you. That will not move the Capitol. It may move the agency.

The case in brief

1. A change of party in Congress from January 3, 2027 narrows the chance of new regulatory-reform statutes, but it does not touch the rights citizens already hold under the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.
2. Section 553(e) lets any interested person petition an agency to issue, amend or repeal a rule, and an agency that denies a petition must say why.
3. Comments on regulations.gov are the record on which agencies and courts decide, and specific, evidence-backed comments carry the most weight.
4. The Unified Agenda shows what is coming, and an Executive Order 12866 meeting with OIRA is a way to be heard while a rule is under review.
5. A request through a Member of Congress for a GAO study creates an official record that supports later reform.

What you can do: Pick one federal rule that affects you, find it on regulations.gov or reginfo.gov, and send a written petition or comment before the deadline listed on the docket.