The federal rulemaking machine kept a brisk pace in the third week of June, with a clear through-line: deregulation and burden reduction, much of it driven by executive orders issued earlier in the administration. Records on FederalRegister.gov show 47 final rules and 23 proposed rules published the week of June 15–19, 2026. The June 18 edition alone carried 121 documents from 41 agencies, including eight final rules and five proposed rules, according to the Office of the Federal Register.
Two marquee proposals dominated the week: the Securities and Exchange Commission’s move to unwind a cornerstone of U.S. equity market structure, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposal to codify the Medicare drug-price negotiation program created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Below are ten notable actions, with comment deadlines and economic context where the record provides it.
1. SEC proposes to repeal the Order Protection Rule
The SEC published a proposed rule on June 17 that would rescind the trade-through rule (Rule 611) and the locked-and-crossed-markets provision (Rule 610(e)) of Regulation NMS. Both have been central features of U.S. equity market structure since 2005, requiring trading centers to route orders to the venue displaying the best price.
The Commission’s stated rationale is that modern markets are now sufficiently automated, interconnected and competitive to function without the prescriptive intermarket price-protection framework. Law-firm analyses, including a client alert from WilmerHale, describe the proposal as one of the most significant equity market-structure changes in two decades, shifting greater weight onto broker-dealers’ existing best-execution obligations. Comments are due August 17, 2026, and the agency has signaled it expects to act on a final rule in early 2027.
2. CMS moves to codify Medicare drug-price negotiation
CMS issued a proposed rule on June 16 that would codify the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and modify the program’s fixed-combination-drug policy. Until now, the program has largely been administered through sub-regulatory guidance.
The economic stakes are substantial. CMS has estimated that the 15 Part D drugs negotiated in the program’s second cycle would have saved roughly $8.5 billion in net covered drug costs had the prices been in effect in 2024, according to figures summarized by KFF. The third cycle, with negotiated prices set to take effect January 1, 2028, covers drugs accounting for about $27 billion in Medicare Part B and Part D spending and some 1.8 million beneficiaries. Comments on the proposed rule are due August 17, 2026.
3. State Department proposes to streamline ITAR arms-sale reporting
The State Department proposed amendments on June 15 to Part 130 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which governs reporting of political contributions, fees and commissions tied to certain foreign defense sales. The department says the changes would modernize and streamline those reporting obligations.
The action is framed as an implementation of Executive Order 14268, which directs agencies to reduce rules involved in the development, execution and monitoring of foreign defense sales and arms-transfer cases. For defense exporters, the proposal could narrow the universe of transactions requiring detailed disclosures. Comments are due August 14, 2026.
4. NRC finalizes fee caps under the nuclear-reform order
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission published a final rule on June 16 revising its FY 2026 licensing, inspection and annual fees. The rule both satisfies the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act’s mandate to recover roughly 100 percent of the agency’s budget and establishes fixed caps on service fees to implement Executive Order 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”
The NRC states that fixed fee caps will provide cost predictability and “drive increased efficiency and accountability” in licensing activities requested by applicants and licensees — a change of particular interest to developers of advanced reactors and small modular reactors facing long, costly review timelines. The rule is designated economically significant and takes effect August 17, 2026.
5. VA overhauls its NEPA procedures by interim final rule
The Department of Veterans Affairs issued an interim final rule on June 15 rewriting its procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act for the first time since 1989. The VA cites intervening statutory changes — including NEPA amendments in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 — and the Council on Environmental Quality’s rescission of its government-wide NEPA regulations.
The revisions update the department’s categorical-exclusion list and aim to focus environmental review on the planning stages of VA actions, such as building and modernizing medical facilities. Because it is an interim final rule, the changes took effect immediately on June 15, though the department is accepting comments. The rule is designated significant.
6. CMS seeks input on pharmacy benefit manager compensation
In a request for information published June 18, CMS solicited technical input on the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers and their affiliates. The RFI is intended to inform implementation of recent legislation that, beginning in calendar year 2028, restricts the remuneration PBMs may receive in connection with Part D drug utilization and imposes new data-reporting requirements.
PBM compensation has drawn bipartisan scrutiny over whether intermediary incentives raise drug costs. The RFI signals that CMS is building the data infrastructure to enforce the coming restrictions. Comments are due by 5 p.m. on July 20, 2026.
7. CFTC and GSA open dockets on fintech and AI
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a request for information on June 18, pursuant to Executive Order 14405, asking market participants to identify rules, guidance and no-action letters that may impede fintech firms from partnering with CFTC-regulated intermediaries. Comments are due July 9, 2026.
Separately, the General Services Administration published a draft acquisition-regulation clause on June 17 addressing the basic safeguarding of data within large language model artificial-intelligence systems used by federal contractors. GSA is gathering feedback before deciding whether to pursue a deviation or formal rulemaking; comments on the draft clause are due August 3, 2026. Together the two notices reflect agencies’ effort to fit emerging technologies into existing oversight frameworks.
8. USDA and CFPB roll back disparate-impact and fair-lending guidance
The Agriculture Department published a final rule on June 17 amending its Title VI regulations at 7 CFR part 15 to eliminate disparate-impact liability, conforming the rules to Executive Order 14281 and to Department of Justice regulations. USDA states the change aligns its rules with the statute’s “original public meaning,” avoids constitutional concerns and reduces compliance costs; it took effect immediately.
The same day, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rescinded a December 2020 advisory opinion on special purpose credit programs under Regulation B and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Disparate-impact theory has long been a tool of federal civil-rights enforcement, and advocates of that approach argue it captures facially neutral practices with discriminatory effects; supporters of the rescissions counter that the doctrine strains statutory text and imposes uncertain compliance costs. Both actions are part of a broader administration effort to narrow disparate-impact enforcement.
9. EPA’s PFAS proposals near key comment deadlines
Although announced in mid-May, two EPA proposals on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances carry deadlines that fall in the days ahead. The first would uphold the federal drinking-water limits for PFOA and PFOS while giving water systems an option to request two additional years to comply. The second would rescind the regulatory determinations and limits for four other PFAS — PFHxS, PFNA, GenX (HFPO-DA) and PFBS in Hazard Index mixtures.
EPA scheduled virtual public hearings for July 7, with general comments due July 20, 2026. Comments on the Paperwork Reduction Act provisions of the PFOA/PFOS extension must reach the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — whose review dockets are tracked at Reginfo.gov — by June 22, 2026. The proposals have drawn sharply divided reactions from water utilities, which cite compliance costs, and public-health groups, which warn against narrowing PFAS limits.
10. CMS tightens oversight of accrediting organizations; DOE revisits transformer standards
CMS published a final rule with comment period on June 16 to strengthen oversight of the private accrediting organizations that certify hospitals and other providers for Medicare, addressing conflicts of interest and standardizing validation processes. The economically significant rule takes effect June 16, 2027, and reflects a rare accountability-tightening measure in a week otherwise weighted toward deregulation.
On the energy side, the Energy Department opened a data-gathering request on June 15 examining how its April 2024 efficiency standards for distribution transformers — with 2029 compliance — interact with grid-reliability and national-security concerns. The inquiry follows an April 20, 2026 presidential determination finding that distribution-transformer and electrical-steel supply chains are essential to national defense. Comments are due July 15, 2026.
On the TIJ beats
For readers following accountability across markets, energy, defense and health, the week underscores how much policy is now moving through executive-order-driven rulemaking rather than legislation. The SEC’s market-structure proposal and CMS’s drug-pricing codification will reshape multibillion-dollar systems; the NRC fee caps and DOE transformer review tie regulatory reform directly to energy security; and the ITAR revision touches the defense-trade pipeline. Each remains a proposal or a freshly effective rule subject to comment, and the deadlines above are the practical levers for stakeholders who want a voice before the rules harden.
Sourcing note: Rule counts, publication dates, comment deadlines and effective dates in this roundup are drawn from primary records on FederalRegister.gov and Reginfo.gov. Economic-impact figures are attributed to the issuing agencies and to independent analyses where cited. Comment periods were open as of publication; readers should verify current status on the linked dockets.