Biden’s regulatory landscape: A year-end analysis

As we ring in 2025, the Federal Register reveals a noteworthy chapter in regulatory history under the Joe Biden administration. We take our traditional year-end look at it here.

The 2024 Federal Register closed with a record-breaking 107,262 pages, a substantial increase from Biden’s own 2023 total of 89,368 pages. Below is a chart tracking Federal Registerpages and rule counts dating back to the first George Bush era.

Biden’s volume reflects a regulatory approach diverging notably from those of predecessors. Rejecting regulatory liberalizationas a priority (even Obama, with his 2016 then-record 95,894 pages, gave lip service to streamlining), Biden championed numerous whole-of-government initiatives. These focused on climate, equity, and other social and economic policies we have explored in depth, emphasizing how Biden-era legislation on inflation, infrastructure and technology enabled these progressive ambitions.

Among Biden’s 3,248 completed rules, 342 are classified as “significant.” Of these, 770 rules affect small businesses, with 76 of those also deemed significant.

In addition, 175 of 2024’s 1,769 proposed rules in the pipeline were deemed “significant.” Of these, 548 rules, including 35 flagged as significant, are expected to impact small businesses.

The above historical breakdown of Federal Register pages and rule counts affords intriguing observations, if not actual patterns. Trump’s “one-in, two-out” rule initially reduced both rule and page counts, yet paradoxically inflated page numbers later in his term due to the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirement to draft replacement rules for those eliminated.

Obviously, Federal Register pages and rule counts have grave limitations as precise metrics of regulatory sprawl. As we enter the New Year, expectations are high for a comprehensive regulatory streamlining initiative from Donald Trump and the 119th Congress, potentially aided by the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

It remains to be seen whether the eroded regulatory review function at the Office of Management can be restored by the incoming Trump administration a way that outlasts him. Among the many proposed regulatory innovations is the creation of a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis. However, more critical still is the GOP’s ability to resist supporting hyper-regulatory legislation—such as the Obama-era bailouts, the CARES Act, or the recent debt-financed infrastructure and CHIPS and Science laws. To date, restraint has proven elusive.

Preventing over-delegation to regulatory agencies is crucial in shaping the new regulatory approach; even more vital is the restoration of the doctrine of enumerated powers. Let’s hope this problem doesn’t dodge DOGE.