There are two main areas in which Congress can enact meaningful reform. The first is to rein in regulatory guidance documents, which we refer to as “regulatory dark matter,” whereby agencies regulate through Federal Register notices, guidance documents, and other means outside standard rulemaking procedure. The second is to enact a series of reforms to increase agency transparency and accountability of all regulation and guidance. These include annual regulatory report cards for rulemaking agencies and regulatory cost estimates from the Office of Management and Budget for more than just a small subset of rules.
In 2019, President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at stopping the practice of agencies using guidance documents to effectively implement policy without going through the legally required notice and comment process.
Featured Posts
Blog
Ten Thousand Commandments 2025 is out now
The 2025 edition of CEI’s flagship report, Ten Thousand Commandments, is out today. For more than 30 years, my colleague Wayne Crews has been…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Reforming Washington’s 10,000 Commandments with Wayne Crews
In this week’s episode we cover the political roots of totalitarianism, why we should put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out to…
Study
Ten Thousand Commandments 2025
Introduction Record federal debt is contributing to record-setting regulatory burdens. While new spending programs show up in budget figures, new regulations requiring the private sector…
Search Posts
News Release
CEI Comments on White House Call to End Social Security Numbers
CEI Vice President Jim Harper commented on the White House’s call for the end of social security numbers in light of the recent Equifax…
The Daily Caller
With the Media Distracted, Trump Quietly Continues Slashing the Number of Regulations
The Daily Caller covers Wayne Crews’ “Red Tape Rollback Report.” President Donald Trump has cut the federal regulatory burden to levels that took the…
Investor's Business Daily
Lots Of Presidents Talked About Getting Rid Of Bad Regulations — Trump Is Actually Doing It
Investor’s Business Daily covers Wayne Crews’ “Red Tape Rollback Report.” Regulation: Getting rid of unneeded regulations may be the single-most effective spur to economic growth…
Politico
De-Reg Event Prep
Politico’s Morning Money covers Wayne Crews’ “Red Tape Rollback Report.” The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Wayne Crews has updated numbers on the Trump administration’s de-regulation…
Reason
Trump at 9 Months: ‘The Least Regulatory President of All’
Reason covers Trump’s regulatory track record and cite’s Wayne Crews’ “Red Tape Rollback Report.” The most underreported story (except here at Reason!) about President…
The Washington Times
Trump ‘Least Regulatory’ President
The Washington Times discusses President Trump’s regulatory track record with Wayne Crews. “President Trump is the least regulatory president since Ronald Reagan. His administration has only proposed…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Supporting No Regulation Without Representation Act
View Full Document as PDF Dear Representatives: We, the undersigned organizations representing millions of Americans, write to express gratitude to Congressman Jim…
Blog
Cut Red Tape and Save Lives by Regulating Tobacco Alternatives Based on Risk
At the beginning of the year, President Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at cutting red tape. The order directs federal agencies to set…
Blog
Bank Regulatory Relief in Time for White House ‘Deregulation Day’
Happy Deregulation Day! Today, the Trump administration is celebrating the benefits of an America liberated from red tape. As I mentioned in a blog…
Washington Examiner
Can Freedom Survive in the Era of the Administrative State?
Washington Examiner covers the administrative state and cite’s CEI’s estimate of the cost of federal regulations. In The Administrative State, Dwight Waldo’s study of the…
Blog
Red Tape Rollback: Trump Least-Regulatory President Since Reagan
The Trump mode has been to regulate bureaucrats rather than the public. New, large-scale regulation has largely stopped in 2017, and where it hasn’t, new…
Blog
What White House ‘Deregulation Day’ Can Do for Finance and Banking
On Monday the Trump Administration is launching the first ever Deregulation Day, highlighting the benefits of an America liberated from bureaucracy.
Blog
Taxes, Welfare, and Economic Inequality
At a time when comprehensive tax reform is dominating news headlines, concerns about income inequality and the distributional effects of future tax changes are again…
Reuters
Beyond the Daily Drama and Twitter Battles, Trump Begins to Alter American Life
Reuters discusses President Trump’s regulatory rollback with Wayne Crews. Even without delivering on his biggest campaign promises, President Donald Trump has begun to…
Blog
No Reason for Denying Puerto Rico a Jones Act Waiver
The Trump administration should immediately grant a Jones Act waiver to Puerto Rico and Congress should fully repeal the maritime cabotage prohibition.
Blog
Shining a Light on Bureaucratic ‘Dark Matter’
Federal agencies produce guidance documents, proclamations, memoranda, bulletins, circulars, letters—all with the force of the law but with no oversight from Congress.
Reason
How Congress Can Use an Obscure Law From the 1880s to Limit Wasteful Government Contracts
Reason covers the release of Bureaucratic Dark Matter by Robert J. Hanrahan Jr. When the U.S. Army got caught spending $76 million on video games, recruitment…
News Release
Video: Regulatory Dark Matter: A hidden tax on consumers and businesses
Learn more about this hidden tax on consumers and businesses, with no Congressional oversight.
The Daily Caller
Report: Fed Bureaucracies Commit Thousands Of Felonies Every Day
The Daily Caller covers the release of Bureacratic Dark Energy by Robert J. Hanrahan, Jr. Bureaucracies have successfully evaded congressional budget oversight for…
News Release
Bureaucratic Dark Energy Grows Government Illegally
Bureaucratic Dark Energy is a paper released today from the Competitive Enterprise Institute revealing a growing concern over the federal government’s use of thousands…
Study
Bureaucratic Dark Energy
View Full Document as PDF There are thousands of felonies committed every day in Washington, D.C. Not in the places one might…
The Washington Times
Banishing Regulatory ‘Dark Matter’
Turns out there aren’t just too many regulations, but too many different kinds of them to track. Congress has stalled out on passing regulatory reform…
Study
What’s the Difference between “Major,” “Significant,” and all those other Federal Rule Categories?
View Full Document as PDF Bureaucracy, rather than interaction with elected representatives, dominates the relationship of the individual to the government. The…
Federal Times
Report Calls for Drastic Workforce Cuts at Regulatory Agencies
Federal Times covers CEI’s publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. The non-profit Competitive Enterprise Institute is all about shrinking government. In a newly released report…
Newsmax
98.5 Percent of Federal Crimes Never Approved by Congress
Newsmax cites 10,000 Commandments by Wayne Crews. There are congressionally approved laws against approximately 4,450 federal crimes. Overall, bureaucrats have approved regulations…
News Release
Equifax Data Breach Evidence that Congress Should Deregulate Credit Reporting
Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President Jim Harper commented on the Equifax data breach. “When Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act forty-five years ago,…
Blog
Why Should Millennials Want to Shrink Government Bureaucracy?
Free markets and limited government are for every generation.
Forbes
The Case for Trump’s Tax Plan Is Strengthened By IRS’s $300 Billion Compliance And Deadweight Burden
Donald Trump made his most urgent appeal for middle class tax cuts in North Dakota, the home state of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat who…
Study
Shrinking Government Bureaucracy
View Full Document as PDF Shrinking Government Bureaucracy is a series of policy proposals by Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) experts to rein in…
Blog
Economic Growth Rose to 3 Percent in Second Quarter of 2017
The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the second quarter. That was significantly higher than the 2.7 percent expected.
Washington Examiner
No, Houston’s Regulation Policy Didn’t Make Hurricane Harvey Flooding Worse
When a major American city is under eight feet of water, it’s a distasteful time to play politics. That hasn’t stopped multiple media commentators looking…
Forbes
Trump’s Tax Reform Plan Targets Middle-Class Tax Complexity
President Trump visited Missouri to talk about tax reform, stressing simplicity and middle-class tax relief and “plans to bring back Main Street by reducing…
Washington Times
Real Progress in Regulatory Reform
Washington Times cites 10,000 Commandments. It’s true. A full seven months after President Trump’s inauguration and the convening of a new Congress, there…
C-SPAN
VIDEO: Iain Murray Discusses “Shrinking Government Bureaucracy” on Washington Journal
Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discusses CEI’s “Shrinking Government Bureaucracy: Reorganizing the Executive Branch to Boost Economic Growth and…
Investor's Business Daily
With Angry Politics Dominating, Trump’s Smart Infrastructure Reforms Go Almost Unnoticed
Investor’s Business Daily cites 10,000 Commandments while Talking about President Trump’s infrastructure plan. Reform: Lost amid all the political name-calling last week, President…
Compliance Week
Killing the SEC and Other Plans to Redraft Regulatory Agencies
Compliance Week covers CEI’s reccomendations for reorganization to the SEC and other agencies from Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Occasionally daydream about razing Washington’s regulatory agencies…
Blog
President’s D.C. Summer Update
Political posturing and high-level personnel changes in Washington have dominated the news and are shaping what policy changes are possible.
The Hill
How Trump is Doing at Cutting Regs
The Hill discusses President Trump’s progress on cutting regulations with Wayne Crews. President Trump is making headway on at least one campaign promise:…
The Hill
How Jeff Sessions is Stopping the EPA’s Slush Fund
The Hill discusses ending the EPA’s slush fund with William Yeatman. Principles are to be found in many places, a blessing in the…
Blog
Rethinking the Commerce Department
If government is ever to stop growing, the supporters of limited government will need to provide a successful example of how it can be rolled…
Washington Times
Federal Government Needs Major Overhaul to Cut Red Tape, Reduce Costs: Report
The Washington Times covers CEI’s latest publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Shrinking the federal bureaucracy would spur economic growth and reduce costs to taxpayers,…
Washington Free Beacon
Report: Reducing Regulatory Agencies’ Authority Could Boost Economy, Increase Job Creation
The Washington Free Beacon covers CEI’s latest publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Reducing some of government’s regulatory agencies’ authority could boost economic growth and…
Washington Examiner
Shock: Bill for Regulations Higher than Taxes to Uncle Sam, $3.7T Total
The Washington Examiner discusses the Treasury’s record-breaking tax revenue with Wayne Crews. American taxpayers and corporations not only paid a combined record $1.85…
Blog
Shrinking Government Bureaucracy in Turbulent Times
We need to ponder what the executive branch we deserve looks like and how it aligns with our Constitution and statutory limitations.
Forbes
How Many Rules And Regulations Do Federal Agencies Issue?
With Congress on summer vacation, it’s an appropriate time to reflect on the number of laws it passes vs. the number of rules and regulations…
Blog
Record Federal Income Tax Receipts Still No Match for Cost of Regulation
Corporate income taxes collected by the U.S. government, estimated as noted at $278 billion for 2017, are dwarfed by regulatory costs.
Study
Rethinking the Department of Commerce
View Full Document as PDF The Department of Commerce’s mission statement is a charter for government interference in markets. It employs 47,000…
Blog
Happy India Independence Day
Today is the 70th anniversary of India’s independence from the United Kingdom, and the nation of 1.3 billion people has seen dramatic economic and social…
Forbes
Warning: Federal Government Deems Fidget Spinners An “Emerging Hazard”
Don’t eat your fidget spinner. I guess that’s what the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is trying to tell us now.
News Release
Improving Job Numbers Emerge but Damaging Regulations Remain a Problem
The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent, the lowest since March 2001, according to the U.S.
Morning Consult
Trump Administration Hits Snags in Effort to Halt Environmental Rules
Morning Consult discusses deregulatory happenings at the EPA with Myron Ebell. While the Trump administration has been aiming to make good on promises…
Blog
Can You Make a Living without a Government License?
There is an expanding strange-bedfellows coalition that would like to see fewer professions for which people need a government-issued license.
RealClear Policy
Regulatory Reform: A Beacon of Light for Bipartisanship
Common ground is nearly impossible to find in Washington these days. But with the Senate’s recent confirmation of Neomi Rao as the White House’s…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As the reality television drama in Washington continues to unfold, regulatory agencies pushed the 2017 Federal Register past the 35,000-page mark and issued 75 new…
Las Vegas Review-Journal
EDITORIAL: Donald Trump Makes a Bit of Headway on Regulatory Relief
Las Vegas Review-Journal cites 10,000 Commandments by Wayne Crews. It would take years to significantly erode a federal regulatory state that has…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As summer marches on, regulatory agencies issued more than 60 new regulations in the last week.
Forbes
How Is Trump’s “One-In, Two-Out” Policy On Federal Regulations Going?
The Trump White House has just published the “Spring” 2017 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The Unified Agenda is the federal…
Blog
Restore Economic Opportunity by Repealing Occupational Licensing Rules
To increase growth, we need to get rid of some of the unnecessary barriers to economic opportunity that have arisen in recent years – such…
Blog
Resolution of Disapproval of CFPB’s Arbitration Rule Is Long Overdue
This week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a joint resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 111) of a controversial new regulation issued…
Blog
Legislation Introduced in Congress to Ease Regulations on Small and Medum-Sized Banks
While recent news cycles dominating Washington have focused on Russia, health care, and now tax reform, some little-noticed progress is being made in deregulating the…
Blog
OMB Director Mick Mulvaney Discusses the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Reform Efforts
The following is an excerpt from remarks delivered by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on The Path Forward of Regulatory Reform held at CEI…
Government Executive
Trump Regulatory Chief Hits Ground Running for ‘Fundamental Shift’
Government Executive discusses the Trump administration’s release of the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions with Wayne Crews, author of 10,000 Commandments.
Blog
Trump’s Regulations at Six Months: The Least-Regulatory President since Reagan
No one is surprised that the Trump administration would issue considerably fewer regulations than the Obama administration. Today we got not only “Donald J. Trump’s…
Forbes
Fixing A Washington That’s Gone From Rule Of Law, To Rule By Whatever
Astrophysicists have concluded that ordinary visible matter—the Sun, the Moon, the planets, the Milky Way, the multitudes of galaxies beyond our own, and their trillions…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Regulatory agencies were plenty busy last week, with new rules in the last week ranging from Maine’s gas stations to hammerhead shark herd size.
Washington Examiner
Trump’s Former EPA Transition Chief Sees Job Cuts as a Priority
Washington Examiner discusses proposed job cuts at the EPA with Myron Ebell. The former head of Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency transition team is…
Forbes
Net Neutrality Day Of Action Platitudes To Ensnare Corporate Proponents
Amazon, Google, Facebook and others in the tech world…you’re really going to keep poking on net neutrality? Some of you seem a tad less…
American Public Media
AUDIO: Kent Lassman Discusses Neomi Rao’s Confirmation on APM’s Marketplace
CEI President and CEO Kent Lassman joins American Public Media’s Marketplace to discuss Neomi Rao’s confirmation to the position of Administrator of the White House…
The Regulatory Review
Constructively Improving Railroad Regulations
Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, mentions a piece by Fred Smith and Marc Scribner regarding regulations of the…
Forbes
Senator Elizabeth Warren Takes Swipe At Trump’s New Regulatory Overseer
Of the hundreds of federal agencies issuing thousands of rules each year, there is one small body, of a few dozen employees, within the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
81 new rules from the last week still range from work surfaces to spirulina extract.
Small Business Advocate
AUDIO: Wayne Crews discusses regulation on The Small Business Advocate
Wayne Crews, author of CEI’s 10,000 Commandments, joined Jim Blasingame on The Small Business Advocate to discuss regulations in the Trump administration. Listen to…
Blog
2017 Competitive Enterprise Dinner Keynote: Elaine Chao
Remarks delivered by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao at CEI’s “Through the Looking Glass” Annual Dinner & Reception.
Forbes
How Many Federal Agencies Exist? We Can’t Drain The Swamp Until We Know
As the federal bureaucracy has expanded, has America become “One Nation, Ungovernable”? No one can even say with certainty anymore how many federal agencies exist;…
Blog
Don’t Follow the Money
The July/August issue of Foreign Affairs has an excellent article by Professor Peter Neumann of King’s College London entitled: “Don’t Follow the Money: The Problem with…
The Conservative
Trade’s Real Enemy Is Regulation
Free trade has brought countless benefits over the past two centuries. It allows for specialisation among nations that has brought down the cost of living…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
A recent EPA rule for dental effluence caused some controversy for violating President Trump’s one-in, two-out policy for new rules.
News Release
CEI Supports Senate Consideration of Neomi Rao as OIRA Administrator
Today, the U.S. Senate voted to advance the nomination of Neomi Rao as the Trump administration’s pick to serve as the Administrator of the Office…
Forbes
Trump’s New Executive Branch Reorganization Should Discipline Agency Guidance Documents
President Donald Trump is undertaking a “Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.” (E.O. 13781) For the new executive branch reorganization to bear…
C-SPAN
VIDEO: Wayne Crews discusses 10,000 Commandments on C-SPAN
June 24, 2017 – Vice President of Policy of the Competitive Enterprise Institute Clyde Wayne Crews discusses the newest edition of 10,000 Commandments on C-SPAN’s…
Forbes
Trump’s Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch About To Get Underway
The modern debate over the administrative state and regulation parallels skirmishes over spending, the deficit, the debt, and the debt ceiling. This week, first draft…
Los Angeles Times
California’s Clean Air Act Waiver Should Be Yanked, Trump’s Former Environmental Advisor Says
Los Angeles Times covers California’s Clean Air Act waiver and Myron Ebell’s comments at a training program hosted by the National Press Foundation.
The Conservative
VIDEO: Myron Ebell on The Conservative
April 3, 2017 – Director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, Myron Ebell, discusses the environment, regulation, and government policy with…
Blog
Cut Crime By Repealing Useless Occupational Licensing Regulations
Many occupations that pose no special risks or need for regulation are off-limits to people who have criminal convictions, or never committed a crime, but…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
New rules from the last week are as wide-ranging as ever, from dental effluence to reciprocating engines.
Politico
The Radical Idea Behind Trump’s EPA Rollbacks
Politico discusses Trump’s environmental policy with Myron Ebell. The Trump administration isn’t just pushing to dramatically shrink the Environmental Protection Agency, chop a…
The Hill
Under Trump, Focus Shifts to Scrapping Regulations
The Hill discusses deregulation under President Trump with Wayne Crews. Federal agencies have shifted their focus under the Trump administration from writing regulations…
Blog
Federal Government Finally Powers Down on Y2K Crisis
Regulating new technologies is especially risky. The high-tech sector is an evolving frontier. Frontiers are always a bit chaotic, and it is inherent in their…
NPR
Trump Administration Gives Industry More Time to Adopt New Nutrition Fact Label
NPR covers the FDA’s decision to delay an Obama-era menu labeling rule. The Food and Drug Administration has delayed the deadline for food…
Blog
A Birthday Wish List for the President
Here are four gifts Congress should give the president before its annual July 4th recess.
Blog
The Key to Prosperity in the Southern Hemisphere and around the World
We have the potential to put developing economies on a path to avoid the mistakes made in America and among our European friends.
Reason
Trump Can Gut Obama-Era Labor Regs Because They Were Never Meant to Last
Reason covers the Secretary of Labor Acosta’s decision to eliminate independent contractor rules. Eliminating a set of Obama administration rules for independent contractors…
Las Vegas Review-Journal
EDITORIAL: The Obama Regulatory Frenzy
Las Vegas Review-Journal covers Ten Thousand Commandments by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. With the 24/7 focus on Donald Trump’s every move and comment,…
Independent Journal Review
Bye-Bye, Regulations! Trump Cuts Regulations with a Zeal Not Seen Since Reagan
Independent Journal Review covers Ten Thousand Commandments by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to shrink the…
National Review
Here’s Three Things the President Should Do in His Executive Reorganization
Today is the last day for the public to submit ideas for the reorganization of the executive branch that the President announced in his…
WMAL
AUDIO: Marc Scribner Discusses Air Traffic Control Reform on WMAL
Marc Scribner, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discusses Air Traffic Control Reform on the Larry O’Connor Show on WMAL.
The Washington Times
Trump Wages Battle Against Regulations, Not Climate Change
The Washington Times discusses President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement with Myron Ebell. WASHINGTON (AP) – While President Donald…
Washington Examiner
Trump Delivering Biggest Cut in Regulations Since Reagan
Washington Examiner covers Ten Thousand Commandments by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. It was odd that a seemingly boring campaign line calling for…
Opposing Views
Trump the Most Anti-Regulation President Since Reagan
Opposing Views covers Ten Thousand Commandments by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. While much of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda has been stalled by…
Politico
Chao Floats ‘Page Limit’ for Environmental Reviews
Politico covers CEI’s Annual Dinner and Reception. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao tonight pitched the administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure vision to an audience of…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment