Interestingly, the action was taken through the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget. OIRA is a fairly obscure agency but arguably the most important regulatory body in the federal government, because it has the power to review regulations from all other agencies. The Biden administration has, at least on an interim basis, installed renowned labor lawyer Sharon Block as the top political appointee at OIRA. Block has repeatedly argued that the agency needs to reorient itself toward defending the interests of workers, a goal that blocking the line speeds rule certainly helps achieve.
...Advocates have other hopes for Biden, too. Josh Balk, vice president of farm animal protection at the Humane Society of the United States, offered a number of funding options the group wants Biden to pursue in a statement to Vox:
We’d like to see funding incentives for producers to shift from confining egg-laying hens inside cages to cage-free housing and moving mother pigs from gestation crates to crate-free conditions. Not only does this better the treatment of animals, but also potentially mitigates the risk of disease spreading through cramped confinement operations. We’d also like to see funding for research into improving and developing plant-based proteins and cultivated meat to decrease the demand for products coming from factory farmed animals.
Of course, Biden has been president for less than a week. He has nearly four more years to pursue policies to undermine cruel, anti-worker factory farming practices, and a long list of policies worth considering.
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