Final answer:
A stay of action stops work on whatever proposed rule was being worked on. It's a legal mechanism that is used to suspend the rulemaking process, often until a particular issue has been resolved.
Step-by-step explanation:
The action that stops work on whatever proposed rule they were working on is C) Stay of action. This legal mechanism halts the progress or enforcement of a rule or regulatory process, often in response to a legal challenge or a need for further review. In the context of bureaucratic oversight and rulemaking, a stay of action can be issued to temporarily suspend the implementation of a proposed rule until a particular issue is resolved.
The negotiated rulemaking process, sometimes called reg-neg, is a mode of creating rules where representatives from various interest groups and government agencies work together to reach a consensus. This process is considered an alternative to the traditional notice-and-comment rulemaking, which can be more adversarial and provoke litigation. Though the notice-and-comment procedure is the more traditional method, the negotiated rulemaking acts of 1990 and 1996 have made the reg-neg process a more encouraged method for some agencies.