WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Bush will move quickly to block new
Medicare guidelines, environmental protections and other late executive
actions by President Clinton, Republican officials said Saturday.

As one of his first acts after taking office, Bush will issue an order to
effectively halt a series of last-minute executive orders and rules by the
outgoing president, the officials said.

Among those actions targeted are environmental restrictions on runoff from
animal feeding operations, and guidelines for managed care programs under Medicare.

Clinton was leaving office Saturday with a flurry of decisions, many of which
have drawn sharp criticism from Republicans.

Bush will impose a moratorium that would for the time being block any new
rules from being printed in the Federal Register. That would essentially block
the most recent of Clinton's executive orders because most rules cannot take
effect until they have appeared in the Federal Register for a certain period of time.

Older regulations would not be covered, but are actively under review by the
incoming Bush administration. Many may be rescinded, Bush transition officials said.

The freeze would not affect presidential pardons.

The moratorium on regulations was expected to be announced by incoming White House
chief of staff Andrew Card, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Bush was also to issue executive orders on Saturday outlining ethics guidelines for his
administration and declaring a national day of prayer, the officials said.

Imposing a freeze on rules has been used in the past by other incoming presidents.

Then-President Ronald Reagan used a similar technique in 1981 to block scores
of last-minute executive orders by his predecessor, Democrat Jimmy Carter.

And when he took office in 1993, Clinton moved quickly to block several
orders that Bush's father, George Bush, had put in place in the closing days
of his administration.

One would have required federal contractors to inform nonunion employees of
their rights to have any dues withheld from their paychecks refunded.
The younger Bush may issue a new executive order reimposing that blocked
order of his father's, the GOP officials said.