The suspension of all new federal regulations by the incoming administration will not impact BasicMed reforms, as had been feared by some in the aviation community. The directive issued on Jan. 20 by White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus halts publication of new regulations until approved by an agency director appointed by the incoming administration and suspends the effectiveness of previously published regulations for 60 days. The published effective date of the BasicMed rule, May 1, 2017, is more than 60 from the Jan. 20 directive, which exempts BasicMed from this directive. Additionally, the directive excludes those regulations subject to statutory deadlines.
The FAA reauthorization bill signed by President Obama in July 2016 required the FAA to publish rules for thirdclass medical reform no later than January 2017, providing an additional level of assurance that BasicMed will not be impacted by the regulatory hold.
