Oral history interview with Cass R. Sunstein, 2021
Abstract
Cass Sunstein discusses his contribution to the regulatory policy of the Obama administration, in which he served as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) from 2009 to 2012. Sunstein outlines OIRA's function and responsibilities, and explains the importance of cost-benefit analysis to regulatory rule-making, the use of the public comment process in the development of rules, and the administration's efforts to ensure that new rules would not be vulnerable to legal challenges. Sunstein provides details about important regulatory initiatives with which he was closely involved, including the administration's calculation of the social cost of carbon, the financial reform effort that became the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and efforts to incorporate lessons from the behavioral sciences into federal rules. Also discussed are the internal debates that led to the release of Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review) in 2011, the administration's regulatory review process within the executive agencies, data.gov and efforts toward data transparency, and Sunstein's personal relationship with Barack Obama, which began when the pair were colleagues at the University of Chicago Law School
Presidents--United States; Transparency in government--United States; Sunstein, Cass R; Obama, Barack; United States; United States. Office of Management and Budget; Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
54 pages
Note (Biographical)
Cass Sunstein served as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009 to 2012. In addition, he served on the President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies and on the Pentagon's Defense Innovatio n Advisory Board during the Obama administration. In 2018, he received the Holberg Prize from the government of Norway. In 2020, the World Health Organization appointed him as chair of its technical advisory group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health
Note
Interviewed by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on April 17, 2021. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Cass R. Sunstein, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022