Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President yesterday (January 20th, 2025). Some of the actions he took yesterday may affect cosmetic regulations.
Regulatory Freeze Pending Review
President Trump issued a presidential memorandum, Regulatory Freeze Pending Review, which orders all new rules to be reviewed by the department or agency head before being issued. The agency or department head must be the one appointed or designated after January 20, 2025 (the one appointed or designated by President Trump).
The definition of “rules” here means any substantial action by an agency that creates a final rule or regulation, including notices of proposed rulemaking, proposed rules and final rules, as well as guidance documents.
There are three cosmetic-related regulations that will still be issued (because they were mandated in MoCRA), but they may be delayed longer than anticipated:
1. Fragrance Allergens
The regulations for fragrance allergens mandated by MoCRA will need to be approved by President Trump’s appointee (or someone designated by that person) before they can be issued. The proposed fragrance allergen regulations were slated to be issued this month, but this regulatory freeze will likely add some unknown amount of time to when they are issued. However, they still WILL be issued at some point.
2. Testing for Talc-Containing Cosmetics
A proposed regulation relating to testing methods for talc-containing cosmetics was published on December 27, 2024. It’s currently in the comment period (until March 27, 2025). Then it would normally have a final rule published after the comments are reviewed. Based on this regulatory freeze, that may be delayed.
3. Regulations for Cosmetic GMP
The proposed regulations for good manufacturing practices have not yet been issued. In the last published federal agenda, they were scheduled for October 2025. Those may also be delayed.
The regulatory freeze also orders the immediate withdrawal of rules that have been sent to (but not yet published in) the federal register. There aren’t any cosmetic-related regulations in that category.
Finally, the regulatory freeze orders all executive agencies and departments to consider a 60-day postponement of the effective date of any regulations that have been published and finalized but which are not yet in effect. There aren’t any cosmetic-related regulations in that category either.
Hiring Freeze
President Trump also ordered a hiring freeze of Federal civilian employees. No position that was vacant as of yesterday could be filled, and no new positions may be created. (There are some exceptions.) The freeze applies to the FDA.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has 90 days to come up with a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.
The FDA has said that limited manpower has been a factor in the delay in the implementation of MoCRA and the regulations required. If they were looking to hire new people, or if there are people who were working on it that are leaving or have left the FDA (thus creating vacancies) this could also affect the release of regulations mandated under MoCRA.
On the other hand, the efficiency of the FDA in getting our cosmetic-related regulations (as well as other clarifications) issued may be improved by the OMB plan, as well as the actions President Trump ordered in three other executive orders issued yesterday:
[I’ve read these Executive Orders, but I have no idea if or how they will affect the overall efficiency of the FDA when it comes to dealing with cosmetic regulations and compliance. One can only hope….]
Cabinet and Sub-Cabinet Appointments
President Trump has submitted his nominees for cabinet, cabinet-level, and sub-cabinet appointments and announced the names of those he has designated to fill acting cabinet positions.
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services1
- Martin Makary – nominated to be Commissioner of Food and Drugs
- Dorothy Fink – Acting Secretary of Heath and Human Services (until a nominee is appointed)
What these appointments will mean for the future of cosmetic regulations and enforcement is unknown.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the federal Department which includes agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and others. ↩︎
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