Comment
Comment on Interim Final Rule, Removal of National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations
Dear Council on Environmental Quality: I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) interim final rule removing its National Environmental…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Working for a better tomorrow with Vinnie Vernuccio
In this week’s episode we cover America’s founding principles, the Cato Institute’s recommendations for reforming financial regulation, why Republicans shouldn’t be busting…
Comment
CEI’s comment on NEPA removal regulations
Re: Docket No. CEQ–2025–0002, RIN 0331-AA10 Removal of National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations, 90 Fed. Reg. 10,610 (Feb. 25, 2025). Dear Ms. Healy:…
Blog
Yes, women had access to credit before 1974
March is Women’s History Month, a time to acknowledge and celebrate many “firsts” for women in public life. One of those “firsts” is the ability…
Letters
CEI joins ATR Coalition Urging CRA on Medical Debt Rule
Dear Member of Congress, We are writing to express our concerns regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s finalized rule on eliminating medical debt records from…
Letters
CEI joins Advancing American Freedom asking that Thomas Sowell be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Blog
Hawley’s bill speeds up union elections by removing guardrails
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) thinks workers are having too hard of a time forming unions. His solution to that is to fast-track the process…
Blog
Is the Solar for All program authorized?
In 2022, Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) without a single Republican vote in the House or Senate.One of the most controversial IRA…
Letters
CEI joins ATR to address the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s last-minute efforts to expand its own regulatory authority to govern digital wallets and overdraft fees.
Dear Member of Congress: We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, urge you to address the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) last-minute efforts to expand its…
News Release
Trump auto tariffs all pain, no gain for consumers
President Trump said today that starting April 2, he plans to impose a 25 percent tariffs on cars and trucks shipped into the United States.
Letters
CEI joins Institute for the American Worker in coalition letter about Senator Josh Hawley’s proposal framework for the PRO Act.
Dear Members of the United States Senate, We write to express our deep concern about Senator Josh Hawley’s proposed labor framework. The framework has no…
News Release
Report: Energy Infrastructure in Dire Need of Reforms for our AI Future
America’s homes, businesses, and industries rely on the nation’s electric grid system, but that system faces big challenges. A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report examines…
Letters
CEI joins ATR coalition letter in opposition of Credit Card Competition Act
We, the undersigned organizations, oppose efforts to impose price controls on credit cards. Whether through the inaccurately named Credit Card Competition Act or price…
Study
Powering Intelligence: Meeting AI’s Energy Needs in a Changing Electricity Landscape
Introduction The electric grid is one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure underpinning modern life, yet it faces growing threats from increased demand, regulatory…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 2: ‘The Dawn of the Internet’
The second episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, focuses on…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR in opposition to the Internal Revenue Service’s midnight rulemaking on digital asset brokers.
Dear Member of Congress, We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our opposition to the Internal Revenue Service’s midnight rulemaking on digital asset brokers.
The National News Desk
Reciprocal tariffs could get softened as Trump’s ‘liberation day’ nears
The National News Desk cited CEI’s experts on imports. “People are getting the imports now while they’re cheaper, and then they’ll buy less later when…
Blog
Trump should eliminate this troubled risk assessment program
Among Washington’s sprawling regulatory bureaucracies, one program has quietly shaped environmental policy for decades. The EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System, known as IRIS, influences…
The Washington Times
The true story behind the ‘gold bars’ at the heart of Trump’s biggest climate fight
The Washington Post quoted CEI’s expert on the EPA Daren Bakst, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Volatile gas and the Gulf of Mexico
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, and President Trump put on some pressure to lower them. Trump also fired Democratic FTC commissioners on unclear…
Blog
SEC restores corporate control over ESG proposals
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has wasted no time in reforming controversial regulations under the Trump administration. Beyond targeting formal rules, GOP commissioners have…
Law & Liberty
“DOGE-ing the FTC?”
Professor William F. Shughard II with the Independent Institute discusses the inefficiency and redundancy of the Federal Trade Commission.
Real Clear Investigations
The Greenhouse Gas Windfalls Blew Hard for Solar in the Biden EPA
Real Clear Investigations cited CEI’s expert on the EPA “At a minimum, it is questionable how the Biden EPA decided to award the $7 billion,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Tariffs, tax cuts, and trustees with Dominic Pino
In this week’s episode we cover retirement investing, pivoting to India for global trade, new housing on federal land, and priorities…
The Hill
Canada should call Trump’s bluff and drop all of its tariffs
We now appear to be in a full-fledged trade war with our closest ally and neighbor. Canada — so deeply integrated into…
Law and Liberty
A Revolution Against Regulation
One of the great threats to freedom in the United States today is what we at the Competitive Enterprise Institute call “…
Reason
“President Trump Targets Humphrey’s Executor Directly”
Professor Jonathan Adler provides an explainer on the constitutional implications of President Trump’s firing of the two Democratic FTC commissioners.
Real Clear Markets
“The FTC’s Andrew Ferguson Chooses Khan over 1st Amendment”
Norm Singleton with the Market Institute discusses the FTC’s request for information on “tech censorship.”…
CPAC
CPAC 2025 and Beyond: A Roadmap to Lasting Regulatory Reform
CPAC has CEI’s expert speak on a panel about regulatory reform On Friday, February 21st, 2025, attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)…
Blog
Trump SEC makes tremendous progress against crypto-stifling regulation
Gary Gensler’s SEC worked at a frenetic pace to shut down innovation in the crypto sector. Without rhyme or reason, the Biden-Gensler SEC moved fast…
C-SPAN
Daren Bakst and Joe Bonfiglio on Proposed EPA Regulatory Rollbacks
CEI’s Daren Bakst appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning on a panel discussing the rollback of the EPA Watch more at C-SPAN…
News Release
Surfing the environmental permitting bureaucracy in Hawaii: CEI report
Hawaii’s environmental permitting system sits at a crucial moment in history, with the destruction of homes and businesses on Maui in the August 2023 wildfires…
Study
Aloha Approvals
Hawaii’s permitting system is at a critical juncture, faced with the dual challenges of rebuilding in the wake of the 2023 Maui wildfires and addressing…
Blog
Let the deconstruction commence
Congress’s actionable hierarchy for administrative state burial & constitutional resurrection Alongside restoring fiscal sanity, Congress must establish a hierarchy of actions to make Donald Trump’s…
Blog
Trump cancels Biden’s heat pump crisis
It isn’t easy figuring out the single most ridiculous Biden administration climate policy, but its declaration that electric heat pumps are critical to the…
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration schooled Europe on free speech. Why ignore the lesson at home?
Vice President JD Vance’s wise words to Europe about U.S. commitments to free speech are on a collision course with some of what’s happening stateside.
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable Podcast episode 1: ‘The Most Misunderstood Law on the Internet’
Otherwise Objectionable is the brand-new limited series podcast that tells the true story of how a previously-obscure defamation law, Section 230 of the 1996…
Wall Street Journal
“Trumps Fires Two Democratic FTC Commissioners”
The Wall Street Journal reports on President Trump’s firing of Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya.
National Review
“Will FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson Inadvertently Promote Censorship?”
Robert Bork Jr. argues that the FTC’s recent request for information on “tech censorship” does not promote free speech.
Wall Street Journal
“Cleaning Up after Lina Khan”
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board ponders whether new FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson will reconsider the agency’s antitrust cases filed under Lina Khan.
Blog
14 priorities in slashing spending and regulation before ‘America 250’—#7 will shock you!
This past week, the House and Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) that preserves Biden-era spending levels while largely turning a blind eye to…
Blog
Let’s cut the cord on federal funding for NPR and PBS
They are products of a media landscape that no longer exists. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was born through the Public Broadcasting Act…
Blog
Will BlackRock revive Social Security reform?
Earlier this week mega asset manager BlackRock hosted a high-profile public event in Washington, D.C. focused on retirement savings, with several A-list panelists from…
Blog
Gov. Youngkin should veto restrictive credit bill
While many watchful eyes focus on the economic impacts of actions of federal lawmakers inside the Beltway, pending legislation in a statehouse 100 miles south…
City Journal
Home Appliance Regulations Are Out of Control
President Trump hates federal home appliance regulations as much as President Biden loved them. And now Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has taken the first…
Truth on the Market
“What Changes Might, and Should, a New FTC Majority Bring?”
Dan Gilman with the International Center for Law & Economics discusses the change in administration at the FTC.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Leaders Applaud EPA’s Historic Deregulatory Actions to Power the Great American Comeback
The United States Environmental Protection Agency cited CEI’s expert on the EPA’s deregulatory actions Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Director of Center for Energy and Environment Daren…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Broadcasting liberty with Jeff Westling
In this week’s episode we discuss Trump tariffs (via AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis and Apricitas Economics’s Joey Politano), the death…
The New York Times
E.P.A. Declares ‘Greatest Day of Deregulation Our Nation Has Seen’
The New York Times Cited CEI’s expert on the EPA Groups that deny the established science of climate change also cheered Mr. Zeldin’s actions. “The…
Real Clear Investigations
A New Beltway Mystery: Follow the Biden EPA Money
Real Clear investigations cited CEI’s expert on the EPA’s spending “I think it will be an uphill battle to recover the money, but it’s…
News Release
EPA Administrator Zeldin announces major deregulatory actions as part of the “Power the Great American Comeback” initiative
Today, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a series of major deregulatory reforms, including a reconsideration of the Obama-era “Endangerment Finding,” which…
National Review
Trump Transition at FTC Is No Reagan Revolution
Don’t call it a “comeback.” Those hoping for a Reagan-era-like return to economic sanity or regulatory humility in antitrust at the Federal Trade Commission…
Blog
Shutdowns are fake, but government growth is very real
With a government funding deadline looming on March 14, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) to freeze non-defense spending at Fiscal Year 2024…
News Release
February inflation numbers not yet reflective of Trump’s tariffs: CEI analysis
Inflation rose 0.2 percent across all sectors in February, down from 0.5 percent in January. CEI senior economist Ryan Young says Trump’s tariffs did…
News Release
New Podcast “Otherwise Objectionable” Explores the Law That Built the Internet—And Why Everyone Wants to Change It
Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act prevents the internet services we rely on from being sued into oblivion. It’s the reason social media platforms,…
The New York Times
Trump Doubles Metal Tariffs as He Presses Canada to Become Part of U.S.
The New York Times cited CEI’s experts on tariffs “Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said that putting tariffs on foreign…
Blog
Plans to build gas plants respond to increased power demand
Energy companies respond to surging AI demand with behind-the-meter solutions. Rising power demand, led by the buildout of data centers for Artificial Intelligence (AI), is leading…
Blog
Chavez-DeRemer exemplifies Trump’s complicated relationship with unions
The Senate confirmed former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a 67-32 vote Monday as President Trump’s new labor secretary. CEI and others…
Blog
Russia tariffs won’t bring peace
President Trump seems to think that tariffs can accomplish almost anything. My colleague Iain Murray recently pointed out that Trump believes tariffs can raise…
Op-Eds
Will Congress Ever Take The Libertarian Win And Embrace Automatic Shutdown?
Congress is at it again. With the March 14, 2025, funding deadline looming, the House is debating a continuing resolution (CR) that would…
News Release
Trump’s plan to increase steel, aluminum tariffs on Canada not a winning move: CEI analysis
President Trump declared today he will increase planned steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada in a tit for tat response to Canada’s recent imposition…
Citation
Transportation Security Agency workers in Illinois, elsewhere lose union
Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Sean Higgins said the agency claimed there were problems of waste and abuse with the practice…
Master Resource
Modernize EPA! (CEI guidebook is out)
Master Resource cited CEI’s experts on new study in modernizing the EPA “Kudos to CEI for its unwavering dedication to principled scholarship in its long,…
The Economic Standard
The CFPB drops its misguided case against Zelle
Seemingly as part of the general order to stop work by acting director Russ Vought, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has …
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: NEPA and refrigerators
President Trump delayed some tariffs against Canada and Mexico, but let others take effect. He also enacted a sixth round of tariffs against China and…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Striving for shareholder value with Matt Cole
In this week’s episode we discuss executive branch powers at the Supreme Court, BP’s pivot back to being an oil and gas…
Blog
Legislation would restore the full power of the Seventh Amendment
Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) has introduced a bill offering the first legislative step toward administrative law court (ALC) reform. Known as the Seventh…
News Release
TSA to end collective bargaining due for its workers, citing abuse of union “official time”: CEI comment
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced it is ending collective bargaining for the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Transportation Security Officers, explaining that…
Blog
Trump EO on crypto reserves rightly eschews government purchases
After much anticipation, President Donald Trump’s newly issued executive order (EO) on a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” and “digital asset stockpile” does not call for…
News Release
Economy adds fewer jobs than expected in February 2025, with trade tariff uncertainty looming large
Experts expected the U.S. economy to add 160,000 jobs in the month of February, but it fell a bit short at 151,000. As President Trump’s…
News Release
Fintech’s Buy Now, Pay Later system helps consumers budget wisely: CEI analysis
Klarna, a Swedish financial technology (FinTech) company, is set to file publicly on the US stock market as soon as next week. Klarna’s Buy Now,…
Blog
The CFPB drops its misguided case against Zelle
Seemingly as part of the general order to stop work by acting director Russ Vought, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has dropped…
Forbes
Like DOGE, Virginia Is Leading The Way On Government Efficiency
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is one of the most high-profile experiments in Trump’s second administration. With billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk at the helm,…
DC Journal
Point: Let Free Trade Work Its Magic
Tariff advocates have three main arguments. One, they raise revenue. Two, they revive domestic industries. And three, they are a diplomatic negotiating tool. Not only do…
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute releases new book as the first part of a major project dedicated to reforming the EPA
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new book, Modernizing the EPA: A Blueprint for Congress, as the first part of a long-term…
Products
Modernizing the EPA: Key Issues at a Glance
This section lists the key issues discussed in the book that Congress should address. Below these issues are specific recommendations for how Congress can address…
Products
Modernizing Chemical Regulations and Other Critical Regulatory Issues
This chapter examines the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that implement several environmental statutes: The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which regulates the production, importation,…
Products
Modernizing Air Regulation
The United States has clean air. Over 50 years ago, nobody could have accurately made this claim. However, for decades, the nation’s air quality has…
Products
Modernizing Water Regulation
Improving and protecting the nation’s water quality has been one of the hallmark achievements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its Office of Water…
Products
Introduction
Over a year ago, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) decided to undertake a major project to reform the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Other agencies could…
Products
Modernizing EPA Science Policies
“Science is the foundation that supports all of our work at EPA,” the first sentence of the agency’s Peer Review Handbook declares. The document continues:…
Products
Modernizing the EPA: Beyond Regulation
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulatory power warrants most of the attention when it comes to modernizing the agency. However, there are numerous non-regulatory programs…
Study
Modernizing the EPA: A Blueprint for Congress
Forward Kent Lassman, President of the Competitive Enterprise Institute President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the Reorganization Plan No. 3 of…
News Release
Trump’s speech to Congress spotlights deregulatory efforts: CEI analysis
On Tuesday evening, President Trump delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress where he highlighted his administration’s deregulatory efforts across the federal government.
RealClear Energy
SEC’s Climate Risk Disclosure Rule Would Compel Companies to Make Scientifically False and Misleading Disclosures
In March last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its climate risk disclosure rule, called “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” …
Blog
You want hiring freezes with that? The effects of California’s minimum wage increase
California officially raised its minimum wage to $20 an hour last April in an attempt to help the state’s working poor. What those folks…
Blog
DOGE’s first cut at bureaucracy: A target inventory
Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14219, “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Regulatory Initiative,” has set the stage for a major…
News Release
Trump Tariffs on Canada and Mexico bad for the economy, businesses, American trade deal integrity
President Trump plans to make his envisioned 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico go into effect on March 4, to the detriment of the…
DC Journal
Pare Back Presidential Power
President Trump is poised to address a joint session of Congress on March 4, the first-year equivalent of the annual State of the Union address.
Blog
CEI’s The Surge: CRA resolutions, Climate Disclosure Rule, and more
If you are interested in analysis and perspective on current energy and environmental issues, then we encourage you to subscribe to this new publication and…
Blog
Pressure brought to bear to delist ‘threatened’ grizzlies
On February 5th, Reps. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Ryan Zinke (R-MT), and Troy Downing (R-MT) sent a letter to President…
Blog
White House requires federal agencies to disclose time spent working for unions instead of taxpayers
The Trump administration has restored reporting and transparency requirements for so-called “official time,” the practice where government workers are allowed to act exclusively on behalf…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Crab specifications and dominant postal products
More tariffs are on the way against China. President Trump announced that delayed tariffs against Canada and Mexico will go through. The actor Gene Hackman…
The Daily Economy
DOGE Gets Serious in Its War on the Administrative State
I have argued for over a decade that America has a fourth, largely unaccountable branch of government in the administrative state. My 2012 book, Stealing…
Blog
Trump labor department pick signals pro-market stance on joint employer, independent contract rules
Keith Sonderling, Trump’s pick to deputy secretary of labor, the department’s second-ranking position, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this…
Blog
Presidential discretion allowed by the Impoundment Control Act
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) publishing my paper this week about the possible constitutional arguments against the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. This…
Blog
My State of the Union message: Restore separation of powers
President Trump is giving a speech on March 4 to a joint session of Congress. In a syndicated column for Inside Sources, I argue…
Blog
Don’t let a government shutdown stop mergers
With a March 14 deadline looming, the US is heading towards another government shutdown. Congressional Democrats seem willing to let funding lapse unless they…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Alabama does DOGE with Stephanie Smith
In this week’s episode we discuss poverty in Illinois, J.D. Vance on AI in Paris, the future of the Jones Act and…
News Release
BP embraces petroleum again
British Petroleum is reportedly reembracing its core mission of producing petroleum instead of ESG-related ventures it has been trumpeting and spending money on. CEI…