President Donald Trump is expected to name his former top environmental attorney, Jeffrey Bossert Clark, to lead the White House regulatory review office, said two people familiar with the decision.
As the leader of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Clark would take control of an obscure but powerful office that reviews agency regulations. That office could take on increased significance under Trump, who has vowed to scale back rules, including eliminating 10 existing regulations for each new one created.
Clark, who led the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division during Trump’s first stint in office, has been mired in controversy amid accusations that he attempted to help Trump subvert the 2020 presidential election.
The White House is considering putting Clark into a senior role that would not require Senate confirmation but would still effectively put him in charge of the office, said one former Trump administration official familiar with the decision.
Landing in the White House regulatory shop could prove an easier political maneuver for Clark than returning to the Justice Department, said a second person familiar with the move.
Both of those people were granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s personnel decisions.
The Federalist first reported Clark’s expected appointment in the regulations office.
Clark is facing the potential loss of his law license over allegations that he attempted to falsely cast doubt on the 2020 election results.
Clark was a key figure in the final report of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol. That report said that Clark played a central role in a “conspiracy” to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Clark has remained a staunch defender of the president and has accused Democrats of “trying to destroy me, because I am a strong Trump supporter and thought Georgia investigating its election in 2020 at a deeper level was worth doing.”
At OIRA, Clark would be working alongside his ally Russ Vought, whom Trump picked to return as director of the White House budget office. Clark worked with Vought at the conservative Center for Renewing America after the first Trump term.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
