New Rules Surged in Obama’s Last Year to 3,853, Most Pages in Federal Register Ever

The Washington Examiner covers 10,000 Commandments.

President Barack Obama’s last year in office set a high watermark for new federal rules and regulations as the outgoing Democrat sought to leave his mark on the country through a “pen and phone” strategy.

The total number of Federal Register pages in 2016 rose nearly 20 percent to 95,894, the most ever, and the number of final rules, at 3,853, was the most since 2005, according to a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The free-market think tank, which advocates lighter government regulation, tallied up all the new rules in its annual “Ten Thousand Commandments” report and concluded that rulemaking surged during Obama’s last full year in office.

Seven of the 10 years that saw the most pages published in the Federal Register, the official journal of government that contains rules, proposals and notices, were during Obama’s tenure.

For economically significant rules, meaning rules expected to have an impact of more than $100 million on the economy, the average for Obama’s eight years in tenure was 69. In comparison, George W. Bush averaged 49 a year.

President Trump has sought to reduce the burdens imposed by federal rules and the number of rules themselves. In January, he signed an executive order requiring agencies to roll back two regulations for each one they impose.

Read the full article at Washington Examiner.