The Investigative Journal’s weekly survey of federal rulemaking draws on the Federal Register, agency filings, and the regulatory pipeline tracked at Reginfo.gov. This week’s docket was dominated by a single theme: deregulation. From a top-to-bottom rewrite of the rulebook that governs roughly $755 billion in annual federal contracting to the formal elimination of “reputation risk” from bank supervision, agencies moved aggressively to implement the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) and a series of executive orders directing the unwinding of Biden-era rules. Below are ten developments worth watching, with comment deadlines and economic stakes noted where the public record provides them.
1. Federal procurement rulebook faces a top-to-bottom overhaul
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council — comprising the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the Defense Department, the General Services Administration, and NASA — published the latest tranche of its “Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul,” a set of twelve proposed rules that the Council says will “streamline the FAR in its entirety.” The effort implements Executive Order 14275, “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement,” which directs agencies to strip out acquisition regulations the administration considers excessive.
The stakes are substantial. The Government Accountability Office reports that the federal government obligated roughly $755 billion through contracts in fiscal year 2024, meaning the FAR governs the terms on which a sum larger than the entire defense budget is spent. Filings published June 23 cover FAR Parts 1, 2, 4, 33, 39, 40, and 53; Parts 3 and 49; Parts 5, 24, and others; and Parts 6, 7, 10, 18, 26, 37, and 41.
Comments on this batch close July 23, 2026, with associated Paperwork Reduction Act collections open through August 24. Contractors, trade associations, and watchdog groups have a narrow window to weigh in on changes that will reshape how the government buys everything from cybersecurity software to aircraft carriers. The compressed timeline — twelve interlocking rules with a 30-day comment period — is itself likely to draw procurement-bar scrutiny.
2. NCUA codifies the end of “reputation risk” in bank supervision
The National Credit Union Administration finalized a rule barring examiners from considering “reputation risk” in supervisory determinations, affirming that the agency “will not consider reputation risk — whether alone or in combination with other factors — in supervisory determinations or other decisions, nor will it take adverse actions on that basis.” The final rule (RIN 3133-AF67) takes effect July 27, 2026.
The action aligns with Executive Order 14331, “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” and responds to long-standing complaints that reputational-risk findings functioned as a vehicle for “debanking” lawful but politically disfavored businesses. The NCUA notes it had already ceased examining for reputation risk effective September 25, 2025; the rule codifies that posture so it cannot be quietly reversed through examiner guidance.
3. Nine financial regulators finalize joint data standards
In a rare show of interagency coordination, nine financial regulators — the OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA, CFPB, FHFA, CFTC, SEC, and Treasury — jointly published a final rule establishing common data standards to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data. The rule is mandated by the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 and takes effect October 1, 2026.
Crucially, the filing states the joint rule “will not change any reporting requirements without further action by the agencies.” In other words, this is the plumbing — a shared vocabulary for identifiers and data formats — rather than a new reporting mandate. The substantive obligations will arrive later, when individual agencies decide whether and how to fold the standards into their own collections. For now, regulated entities should treat the rule as a signal of where compliance technology is heading rather than an immediate cost.
4. Regulators move to bring stablecoin issuers under the Bank Secrecy Act
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, joined by the OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and NCUA, issued a proposed rule implementing the GENIUS Act — the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act. The proposal would treat permitted payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act and require them to maintain customer identification programs. Comments close August 21, 2026.
The rulemaking marks one of the first concrete steps toward the supervisory architecture Congress envisioned when it passed the GENIUS Act, and it signals that the administration’s embrace of digital-asset innovation comes paired with anti-money-laundering obligations. A companion FinCEN proposal on stablecoin-issuer AML programs is moving on a parallel track, with comments on related measures due July 24.
5. Interior moves to ease onshore oil and gas leasing rules
The Bureau of Land Management published two proposed rules implementing the OBBB and Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy.” The first would revise the agency’s oil and gas leasing regulations, including a proposal to “return the minimum bond amounts to those prior to the finalization of the 2024 rule.” The second would modify royalty obligations on oil and natural gas lost from federal and Indian leases, which BLM frames as reducing compliance burdens and streamlining royalty determinations.
Both proposals (RINs 1004-AF05 and 1004-AF33) carry a comment deadline of August 24, 2026. The bonding question is likely to be the flashpoint: the 2024 rule raised minimum bond amounts to ensure operators, rather than taxpayers, cover the cost of plugging abandoned wells. Environmental groups and some state regulators argued higher bonds reduce orphaned-well liabilities; industry countered that the increases priced out smaller operators. Reverting the figures reopens that debate.
6. CPSC proposes mandatory safety standard for e-bike and scooter batteries
The Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed a mandatory safety standard for lithium-ion batteries used in micromobility products — e-bikes, electric scooters, and similar devices — citing the risk of “thermal runaway,” which can trigger fires, explosions, and toxic gas releases. The proposal would require electrical systems to comply with applicable voluntary standards, with modifications, and would add the rule to the list requiring third-party testing for children’s products. Comments close August 24, 2026.
The safety case is stark. According to the CPSC’s regulatory analysis, agency staff identified 227 incidents associated with 39 fatalities and 181 injuries between 2019 and 2023, with charging-phase failures alone accounting for 120 incidents, 18 deaths, and 102 injuries. The data shows that fires igniting while devices sat in storage or open spaces — often in apartment hallways and stairwells — produced some of the deadliest multi-victim incidents.
For a publication focused on accountability, the micromobility battery file is a reminder that deregulation is not the only current in this Federal Register: where a documented body count exists, agencies are still advancing prescriptive consumer-safety mandates. The proposal will test whether voluntary industry standards have been sufficient.
7. Maritime Administration finalizes the Tanker Security Program
The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration finalized the Tanker Security Program (RIN 2133-AB95), a fleet of “active, commercially viable, militarily useful, privately owned product tank vessels of the United States” intended to meet national-defense fuel-transport needs and maintain a U.S.-flag presence in international shipping. The rule takes effect July 23, 2026, replacing the 2022 interim final rule after incorporating public comment.
The program addresses a strategic vulnerability military planners have flagged for years: the United States has too few domestically flagged tankers to move fuel in a sustained conflict without relying on foreign-controlled vessels. By placing the program on permanent regulatory footing, MARAD gives participating operators the certainty needed to commit assets, while reinforcing the sealift capacity that underpins overseas logistics.
8. EPA streamlines NEPA procedures and unwinds a 2024 air rule
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed an update to its procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, framed as creating “efficiencies” and harmonizing the agency’s environmental-review process. Comments close July 27, 2026. Separately, EPA used the Congressional Review Act to remove the 2024 Rubber Tire Manufacturing emissions rule after Congress passed, and the President signed, a joint resolution of disapproval.
The CRA revocation is procedurally significant: once Congress disapproves a rule, the agency is barred from issuing one in “substantially the same form” absent new legislative authorization. That makes the rubber-tire reversal more durable than an ordinary rescission and illustrates how the legislative and executive branches are working in tandem to clear regulations enacted in the prior administration’s final year.
9. USDA proposes shifting SNAP administrative costs to the states
The Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Administration proposed a rule codifying Section 10106 of the OBBB, which reduces the federal government’s share of annual SNAP state administrative costs from 50 percent to 25 percent, effective in fiscal year 2027. Comments close August 24, 2026.
The fiscal implications fall squarely on state budgets. Halving the federal match for administering the nation’s largest anti-hunger program means states must either absorb the difference, find efficiencies, or scale back administrative operations such as eligibility processing and fraud detection. State human-services agencies and budget officers are the constituencies most likely to file comments, and the rule is a useful lens on how the OBBB redistributes costs from Washington to state capitals.
10. CFTC seeks comment on round-the-clock futures and perpetual contracts
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a request for comment on two market-structure questions: extending standard futures contracts to 24/7 trading without altering their expiration and settlement terms, and listing “perpetual” contracts referencing physically delivered energy commodities such as crude oil. Comments close July 27, 2026.
The inquiry reflects pressure from digital-asset trading conventions — where round-the-clock markets and perpetual contracts are standard — migrating into traditional energy derivatives. How the CFTC handles the request will shape whether established commodity markets adopt crypto-native trading structures, with implications for price discovery, margining, and the operational resilience of clearinghouses that were built around defined trading hours.
Relevant to TIJ’s beats
Financial crime. FinCEN proposed expanding its definition of the Huione Group — already designated under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act as a foreign financial institution of “primary money laundering concern” — to capture an additional entity and any “successor entity.” The existing special measure remains in effect; comments close July 27. The move underscores how designated illicit-finance networks attempt to reconstitute themselves under new corporate shells.
Immigration. DHS proposed adjusting naturalization fees, ending the reduced-fee option and fee waivers for the N-400 and N-336 forms while preserving exemptions for current and former armed-forces members. Comments close August 24. The agency frames the change as aligning fees with adjudication costs.
Civil-rights regulation. Both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor moved to rescind regulatory provisions — DHS conforming its Title VI rules to recent Justice Department action, and Labor eliminating affirmative-outreach requirements for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act recipients. The Education Department separately proposed rescinding its Equity Assistance Center Program regulations, with comments due July 27.
This roundup summarizes public records published in the Federal Register between June 22 and June 26, 2026. Comment deadlines are drawn from the agencies’ own notices and are subject to extension; readers intending to file should verify the operative date on Regulations.gov. Proposed rules described here are not final and may change before adoption. The Investigative Journal will track these dockets as they advance.