Special Report: Barack Obama: The 44th U.S. President

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. new President Barack Obama's chief of staff on Tuesday directed government agencies and departments to freeze all pending regulations for review by the new administration, the White House said in a statement.

    "This afternoon, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel signed a memorandum sent to all agencies and departments to stop all pending regulations until a legal and policy review can be conducted by the Obama administration," the White House said.

    It is a common feature of U.S. presidential transitions to do so.