The executive branch
waiver
Permission from an agency to depart from a normal requirement, granted where a statute allows it. Common in Medicaid, education, and immigration.
In full
A waiver is not an exemption an agency invents; it exists because Congress wrote authority for one into the statute, usually with conditions and a time limit. Section 1115 Medicaid waivers let states run their programs differently and are how much state-level health policy variation is created. Waiver approvals and denials are reviewable agency action.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.