The Investigative Journal’s daily Federal Register Watch tracks rules, proposed rules, and agency notices that shape American public policy. Today’s edition: a sweeping ATF rulemaking package, an FDA proposal to strip “gender” from federal regulations, a Treasury deregulatory direct final rule, and an FAA framework for drone restrictions over critical fixed sites.
The Big Story: ATF’s Sweeping Firearms Rulemaking Package
Wednesday’s Federal Register brought the most consequential single-day output from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in years — a coordinated package of more than a dozen rules and proposals that, together, redirect the regulatory posture of federal firearms policy. Filings indicate the Justice Department published one final rule and at least 14 proposed rules from ATF on the same day, addressing everything from bump stocks and stabilizing braces to record retention and proscribed import countries.
The headline final rule formally revises the definition of “machine gun” in response to the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Garland v. Cargill. According to the rule, ATF is removing the two sentences added by its December 2018 final rule that had classified bump-stock-type devices as machine guns under the National Firearms Act. The agency states the action is required to conform regulations to the Court’s holding that ATF “exceeded its statutory authority” when it reclassified non-mechanical bump stocks. The amendment takes effect on publication and does not include a comment period because the rule implements a binding judicial decision.
Paired with that final rule is a closely watched proposed rule on stabilizing braces. ATF acknowledges in the proposal that “[c]ourts have found that ATF’s revisions in the 2023 final rule on the same topic violated the Administrative Procedure Act” and that “[s]everal courts have enjoined, stayed, or vacated the final rule, which has rarely been in effect.” The proposal would strike the two paragraphs added in 2023 that defined the phrase “designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder.” Comments are due August 4, 2026, at regulations.gov. Litigation tracking by Second Amendment groups and state attorneys general is expected to converge in the comment record.
ATF Records Retention: From “Forever” to a Fixed Term
One of the most operationally significant items in the ATF package is a proposed rule on firearm records retention periods. Under current regulations, federal firearms licensees and the ATF National Tracing Center retain acquisition-and-disposition records indefinitely. The proposal would establish a fixed retention period — ATF says it is “considering either 20 or 30 years” — and a “brief retention period” for forms used in private-party transfers and voluntary firearm handler checks.
The change carries direct downstream consequences for criminal investigations that rely on firearm tracing, for civil litigation against manufacturers and dealers, and for state-level regulatory enforcement that piggybacks on federal recordkeeping. Records suggest law-enforcement coalitions, gun-violence research centers, and industry trade groups will dispute the choice between 20 and 30 years and the treatment of National Tracing Center holdings. Comments close August 4, 2026.
Other ATF proposals filed the same day would clarify Brady Act background-check exceptions for state-issued firearms permits, redefine “business premises” to include adjoining parcels, restate the meaning of straw purchases, and update the list of proscribed countries for permanent firearm imports — a change that, according to the proposal, would remove most former Soviet states from the list and leave the Russian Federation as the only proscribed origin for most firearm and ammunition imports. Comments on the import-restrictions proposal close July 6, 2026.
FDA Moves to Strike “Gender” From Title 21
The Food and Drug Administration filed a proposed rule modifying terminology in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations to comply with Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” issued January 20, 2025. The proposal, if finalized, would “remove the term ‘gender’ wherever it appears” in FDA regulations and either replace it with “sex” or delete the reference entirely, along with what the agency describes as “editorial changes to improve readability.”
The FDA proposal is being filed in parallel with an ATF proposed rule on selecting biological sex on ATF forms, which would clarify that individuals completing firearms or explosives paperwork “should select their biological sex” on the form’s sex question. Both proposals cite the same executive order. Comments on the FDA rule close July 6, 2026; the ATF form proposal closes August 4, 2026.
The two filings are likely to attract substantial public comment from medical associations, civil liberties groups, state attorneys general, and patient-advocacy organizations. Filings indicate that downstream effects could include changes to clinical-trial demographic reporting, adverse-event databases, and product-labeling guidance. The FDA’s notice does not estimate compliance costs, but the rule’s reach across drug, device, biologics, and tobacco regulations is extensive.
Treasury’s Direct Final Rule: Streamlining Title 31
The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service issued a direct final rule titled “Eliminating Unnecessary Regulations,” citing an executive-order-driven review of existing rules. According to the notice, the rule “streamlines title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) by removing regulations that are no longer necessary or no longer have any current or future applicability.” Direct final rules take effect automatically unless an adverse comment is received within the comment window, which closes June 5, 2026.
The use of the direct-final-rule mechanism is itself notable: it signals that Treasury views the removed provisions as non-controversial housekeeping. Records suggest a parallel direct-final-rule track at other Cabinet agencies as part of the administration’s broader deregulatory review. TIJ will track the Title 31 changes line-by-line in a follow-up review, with particular attention to any provisions touching anti-money-laundering coordination, debt-collection authorities, or payment-system oversight.
FAA Proposes Long-Awaited Drone Restriction Framework
The Federal Aviation Administration published a proposed rule implementing Section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 — a long-delayed framework that would allow operators of certain “fixed site facilities” to apply for unmanned-aircraft flight restrictions over their property. The notice states applicants would have to demonstrate that a flight restriction is necessary for “aviation safety, protection of people and property on the ground, national security, or homeland security.”
According to the proposal, eligible applicants are expected to include critical-infrastructure operators, energy facilities, certain entertainment venues, and national-security-sensitive sites. The rule would also identify the categories of operations that remain permitted within a designated unmanned-aircraft flight restriction area. Comments close July 6, 2026.
The Section 2209 framework has been pending since the original 2016 statute. Records indicate Congress repeatedly pressed FAA to publish it after a series of unauthorized drone incidents over stadiums, refineries, and military installations. Industry analysts will scrutinize the application thresholds, the appeals process, and the interaction with state and local laws — an area where preemption disputes have generated litigation.
Coast Guard, FAA Special Conditions, and a Notable VA Proposal
Beyond the high-profile items, Wednesday’s edition included a heavy slate of Coast Guard safety-zone notices tied to seasonal events — The Wharf in Washington, D.C.; the Fort Lauderdale Air Show; the Key West Paddle Classic; July 4 fireworks displays in the Captain of the Port Duluth Zone; and a Battleship New Jersey clay shoot on the Delaware River. These are routine, but they signal where federal maritime enforcement assets will concentrate over the coming weeks.
FAA also issued special conditions for the Skyryse-modified Robinson R66 helicopter, which features a four-axis full-authority digital fly-by-wire flight control system — a notable airworthiness milestone for autonomous-capable rotorcraft. The Department of Veterans Affairs published a proposed rule streamlining the Veteran Readiness and Employment program, eliminating the requirement that VR&E rehabilitation plans be developed in consultation with a panel of providers who never treated the veteran. The VA argues the existing process “often adds avoidable delays to veterans’ access to benefits.” Comments close July 6, 2026.
The National Marine Fisheries Service finalized an accountability measure for recreational red snapper in federal waters off Louisiana, reducing the state’s 2026 annual catch limit by the amount of the 2025 overage — a routine but politically sensitive enforcement action. NMFS also opened a parallel proposed rule on Amendment 58B for the Gulf deep-water grouper complex; comments close June 5, 2026.
Items on TIJ’s Investigative Beats
Several items intersect with TIJ’s standing investigative beats. The CFTC proposed Privacy Act regulations exempting a new “Insider Risk Program” system of records, CFTC-59, from individual-access provisions of the Privacy Act — a transparency-relevant change that warrants line-by-line review of the cited OMB Circular A-108 justifications. The U.S. Forest Service proposed exempting administrative site leases from special-use regulations to better align Forest Service real-estate practices with private-sector norms. ATF’s export-control conforming amendment formalizes years of inter-agency division of permanent-import authority between the Departments of Commerce and State and is worth watching for downstream defense-trade implications.
TIJ will follow each rulemaking through its comment period and final-rule stage. Readers tracking specific dockets can submit comments at regulations.gov using each rule’s RIN or document number.
Sources: Federal Register documents published May 6, 2026, including final rule 2026-08926, proposed rules 2026-08930, 2026-08929, 2026-08826, 2026-08932, 2026-08943, 2026-08911, 2026-08918, 2026-08925, 2026-08922, 2026-08979, 2026-08937, 2026-08809, 2026-08910, and direct final rule 2026-08950, supplemented by the Federal Register API. Right of reply: TIJ contacted the Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, the FDA Office of Media Affairs, the Treasury Department, the FAA, and the VA for comment; this story will be updated if responses are received.