The Department of Justice signaled in its recently released 2026 Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions that it may soon issue final rules in a yearslong effort to rewrite its FARA regulations. The Department solicited initial comments in late 2021, issued draft rules in late 2024, and closed public comment on the draft rules in early 2025. Given the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back regulations generally and then-Attorney General Pamela Bondi’s initiative to deprioritize FARA enforcement specifically, it was uncertain whether the Department’s FARA rulemaking would move forward.
The Department’s recent statement still leaves much up in the air, as it said only that the Department is “now considering a final rule” that “adopts many—but not all—of the NPRM’s proposals.” The Department did not indicate when it will decide whether to adopt a final rule. Here is the Department’s statement in its entirety:
Hat tip to Joe Birkenstock for locating and sharing this excerpt.
This article is designed to give general information on the developments covered, not to serve as legal advice related to specific situations or as a legal opinion. Counsel should be consulted for legal advice.
