Bidenomics? Here are the 297 costliest rules in the president’s Spring 2023 Unified Agenda

Federal agencies issue thousands of rules, regulations and guidance documents every year compared to the relative handful of laws enacted by Congress.

Twice a year, agencies showcase their priorities among these in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. We provided some preliminary analysis of the Biden White House’s new Spring 2023 edition recently. We also spilled the beans on how—in the wake of Biden’s Executive Order 14,094 raising the threshold for regulatory analysis from $100 million in annual impact to $200 million—the Agenda is now the vehicle for an ill-advised phase-out of the “Economically Significant” category of regulation.  

Politico has noted that the “Biden regulatory agenda previews busy period before election.” What that really means is that the administration will be pushing hard to complete some of its abundant regulatory priorities before they become potentially subject to the Congressional Review Act’s 60-legislative-day window for potential repeal in the 119^th Congress in the event of an administration change.

These urgencies include rulemakings on climate change, water, air quality, chemical regulation, energy efficiency, transmission grid regulation, and financial regulations related to climate disclosure, as Politico pointed out. 

There are 297 rules still deemed “Economically Significant” by the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda in that soon-to-evaporate category. I have provided the list below. It is well worth perusing, as there can be plenty of targets beyond the Politico excerpt that concerned parties might consider objectionable and worth monitoring immediately—and with even greater urgency when the Fall and then Spring 2024 Agendas appear.

Stopping the progressive rulemaking’s march will require hearings and other oversight, and denial-of-appropriations to stop the most egregious. For those unwise regulations that cannot be stopped, any workable tactics to push them as close as possible to the 119th Congress could render them subject to potential CRA revocation in the even of a shift to an administration (Republican or Democrat) somewhat more inclined toward regulatory streamlining.

The full list of 297 economically significant rules and regulations is broken down below by department and agency, and by rulemaking stage. Take advantage, as the Fall Agenda is likely to showcase a smaller subset of weighty regulations given that costly rules not quite reaching the new $200 million threshold may get obscured. This fatter compilation today can help track some of the goings-on and retain transparency, at least for a time.