CEI Letter of Support on the Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act

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Members of Congress,

We write to reiterate our strong support for Rep. Van Duyne’s (TX-24) Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act (SBRRA). Recent analysis of the 2025 regulatory landscape shows that federal small- business red tape is declining to historic lows under President Trump, yet, these improvements remain temporary and vulnerable to reversal. Congress now has a rare opportunity to make genuine regulatory reform permanent.

A Historic Drop in Small Business Regulation

Under the Trump administration, conventional notice-and-comment rulemaking has fallen to levels unseen since Federal Register record-keeping began. As of December 1st:

  • 2,216 final rules have been published – on track for the lowest year in modern history.
  • 554 rules are flagged as affecting small business – with a number of them being deregulatory “unrules,” such as delays, scope reductions, and burden-easing adjustments.
  • 26 rules affecting small business are classified as “significant” – a category typically applied to rules with at least $100 million in annual economic effects.

On a straight-line projection, the year is likely to close with only about 604 final rules affecting small business and 28 significant rules. Both figures would outperform the Trump administration’s first-term averages of 701 and 70, respectively.

Historically, nothing compares:

  • President Biden averaged 846 rules per year affecting small business, including 82 significant.
  • President Obama averaged 694 per year, including 117 significant.

Even recognizing transition-year overlap, Trump’s current numbers represent the steepest regulatory reduction ever recorded.

The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy has also amplified this deregulatory shift. It has submitted government-wide recommendations identifying rules and processes that are “unnecessary,

unlawful, unduly burdensome, or unsound,” and has proposed cuts and improvements at most agencies. In a symbolic move, even the SBA itself announced a 43 percent staff reduction during the early

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) era.

Why the SBRRA Is Needed Now

These dramatic reductions, however welcome, rely almost entirely on executive priorities. Many of the Trump administration’s actions are temporary pauses, rescissions, deadline extensions, relaxed

enforcement, and expanded flexibilities. Absent congressional reinforcement, the next administration can simply reinstate the Biden-era surge of regulatory interventions.

The SBRRA would change that by:

  • Requiring the Small Business Administration to ensure that the net regulatory cost of new federal rulemaking on small businesses stays at or below zero.
  • Improving transparency by requiring SBA reporting on all rules expected to affect small firms.

This statutory structure mirrors the original intent of the 1996 Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, which sought to shield small entities from disproportionate federal burdens. While the Trump administration’s current posture provides a deregulatory reprieve, the underlying regulatory

machinery remains intact. Without congressional action, it will spring back to life.

Small Businesses Cannot Endure Endless Whiplash

Following the COVID-era spending blowout and the legislative tidal wave represented by the Inflation Reduction Act, the infrastructure law, and the CHIPS and Science Act, small businesses remain exposed to a future avalanche of mandates, paperwork, and compliance costs. Even during today’s deregulatory moment, the gravitational pull of federal programs, subsidies, partnerships, and conditions continues to draw both large and small firms into Washington’s orbit.

Entrepreneurs should not have to build business models around anticipating the next administration’s regulatory preferences. They need stability, predictability, and insulation from bureaucratic overreach.

Congress Should Lock in These Gains

The Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda has delivered unique relief, but only Congress can institutionalize it. Enacting the Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act would prevent future regulatory surges, restore certainty to the nation’s entrepreneurs, and ensure that today’s progress endures for the long term.

We urge Congress to advance this important legislation and to seize this historic opportunity to protect America’s small businesses from cyclical and excessive federal intervention.

Sincerely,

Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.

Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Matthew Adams

Senior Government Affairs and Coalitions Manager, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Francisco Ferrisi

Government Affairs and Coalitions Associate, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Ryan Young

Senior Economist, Competitive Enterprise Institute

For more information, see:

“Small Business Regulation Is Cratering – Here’s The Hidden Catch,” Clyde Wayne Crews, Forbes, October 2025