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
Agenda for Congress: Regulation
CEI’s new Agenda for Congress is out now. Each chapter contains pro-market policy recommendations in areas where CEI has expertise. Here are four principles…

Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Automatic brakes and horse protection amendments
Sixty-seven people died when a military helicopter and a passenger jet collided near Reagan Airport. President Trump issued an Executive Order to stop all federal…

Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Trump vs. the Regulatory State with Susan Dudley
In this week’s episode we cover how the feds are forcing your bank to spy on you, a new strategy for housing…
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Blog
A Monster Federal Register This Halloween
Today, the 2016 Federal Register stands at 75, 670 pages, the 9th highest “yearly” count of all time—but it’s only Halloween.
Blog
5 Scariest Halloween Regulations
Regulatory dark matter is a Washington boogeyman. In 2015, there were 39 regulations for every one law passed by Congress. That’s a lot of rules…
Washington Examiner
Obama set to break red tape record
Washington Examiner reports on Wayne Crews's report on this year's record breaking Federal Register. President Obama's regulatory freight train is crashing through even…
Forbes
Surging Federal Register Of Regulations Cracks Top 10 Fattest Ever–With 2 Months Still To Go
The federal debt isn’t the only thing doubling every few years. Both presidential candidates have declared they will cut mounting regulatory red tape, particularly for…
Watchdog.org
Candidates’ perennial promises to cut regulations rarely pan out
Watchdog.org discusses ways that the next administration can push for regulatory reform with Wayne Crews. Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President for Policy Clyde…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new federal regulations passed the 3,000 mark last week, and the Federal Register continues its record pace.
Blog
Three Ways the Next President Can Help America Out
At this moment, it’s likely the presidential candidates are busy preparing for the third and final debate tonight.
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 13: Establish ‘Office of No’
Implement a “Do Not Regulate” Office to Clarify Economic Liberalization Alternatives to, and Explicit Exit Strategies from, Command and Control Rules.
The Hill
White House Admits it’s Late Again in Releasing Regulatory Report
The Hill reports on how Wayne Crews called out the White House Office of Management and Budget about it's late report on regulations. …
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Federal regulators enjoyed a short work week due to Columbus Day, but still published more than 1,300 Federal Register pages with new regulations ranging from…
Blog
White House Stalling Regulation Report Until after Election?
Today, Monday, October 17th, marks the latest that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has ever been with its annual draft Report…
The Hill
Group claims White House delaying regs report until after election
The Hill reports on Wayne Crews's blog post on the late White House Office of Management and Budget's report on regulations. In a…
Wall Street Journal
The Regulatory State May Have Met Its Match in Idaho
The Wall Street Journal highlights Wayne Crews's annual report on the size and cost of federal regulations. The problem in Washington, D.C., is…
Washington Examiner
Obama’s regs cost you a MacBook Pro every year
Washington Examiner discusses Wayne Crews's anaylsis on the Obama administration's record setting rule-making pace. With less than 100 days left in his presidency, the…
Rare
Barack Obama has imposed more regulations than any other president in history
Rare discusses regulation's record breaking year with Wayne Crews. President Barack Obama is on track to impose more regulations than any other American…
Washington Examiner
Obama legacy: Most red tape, regulations ever
Washington Examiner discusses the Obama administration's published regulations with Wayne Crews. Team Obama crossed the 70,000-page mark this week and is on schedule…
The Hill
One way to reduce regulations? Give states the power to reject them.
The Hill mentions Wayne Crews's annual report calculating the cost of federal regulation on the economy. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute has explained, regulations…
Blog
Federal Register Tops 70,000 Pages, Headed for a Major Record
There’s no measure of regulation worse than counting Federal Register pages. But on the other hand, the bureaucracies aren’t exactly bending over backward to disclose…
The Hill
Report: Obama could set record for most rules in 2016
The Hill reports on CEI's tracking of the Federal Register this year. The Obama administration is on pace to make 2016 the busiest…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Register will crack the 70,000-page barrier early this week. New rules found in last week’s 2,000-plus pages range from foreign cars to beetles.
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 12: Acknowledge and Minimize Indirect Costs
This is the 12th entry in a series on how the next president can reduce bureaucracy. Earlier installments have addressed a freeze on rulemaking, the role…
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 10: Account Separately for Economic, Health and Safety, and Environmental Regulations
This is the 10th entry in a series on how the next president can reduce bureaucracy. Earlier installments have addressed a freeze on rulemaking, the role…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a busy week, with Friday’s Federal Register alone containing 52 final regulations and 809 pages.
USA Today
Short-term government built short-term capitalism: John Allison
USA Today highlights Wayne Crews's calculated costs of federal regulations from his annual report. Not to be outdone, President Obama has overseen the…
The Hill
The poor suffer most from runaway regulation
The Hill cites Wayne Crews's calculated cost of federal regulation from his annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. Regulatory costs, which inevitably are passed…
InsideSources
A New President Needs a New Red Tape Agenda
Federal regulators issue thousands of rules and regulations every year. Decrees range from the Environmental Protection Agency’s gargantuan Clean Power Plan and “Waters of the…
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 8: Transparency Report Cards
Improving disclosure and transparency for regulatory output and trends is one area where a new president can unambiguously undertake unilateral initiatives without statutory regulatory reform.
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 7: Track Regulatory Accumulation
This is the seventh entry in a series on how the next president can reduce the scope of bureaucracy. Earlier installments have addressed a freeze on…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Agencies issued more than six dozen new final regulations last week, ranging from minerals to dates.
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 6: Enhance Disclosure in ‘Unified Agenda’
There are rules, and then there are rules. Agencies are supposed to alert the public to their priorities in the semi-annual “Regulatory Plan and Unified…
Washington Post
How Trump would stimulate the U.S. economy
The Washington Post highlights Wayne Crews's calculated cost of federal regulations from his anual Ten Thousand Commandments report. Beyond trade, America’s Gulliver economy…
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 5: Scrutinize Informal ‘Guidance’ Documents
When a new president scrutinizes agency rules as we have called for in this series, he or she also needs to bring “guidance documents” under…
Blog
Response to Prof. Aaron Nielson on ‘Auer Deference’
As I’ve discussed before, there is a robust ongoing debate over the propriety of Article III courts giving binding respect to a regulatory agency’s interpretations…
The Houstonian
$3500 Lemonade Stand: How Government Regulation Stifles Entrepreneurialism
The Houstonian highlights Wayne Crews's annual report on the cost of federal regulations. Regulatory barriers to trade – not only on the federal…
Blog
How A New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 4: Expand Number of Rules Receiving Cost Analysis
The Office of Management and Budget conducts review of some significant or major rules’ cost-benefit analyses, but not quite as many or as deeply as…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Agencies issued 78 new regulations last week, ranging from cherries to dairy.
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 3: Review, Revise, Repeal, and Sunset
Short of the moratorium advocated at the top of this series, and in keeping with the spirit of executive orders and retrospective reviews that agencies…
Blog
Appreciate Checks and Balances on Constitution Day
This Constitution Day marks 229 years since the Framers signed the U.S. Constitution following more than four months of debate, votes, and revisions in Philadelphia.
Forbes
Why Future Federal Communications Commission Oversight Hearings Should Explore Sunsetting the Agency
There’s another Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversight hearing underway in the Senate Commerce Committee, with most of the time being spent on doings with…
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 2: Boost Resources and Free Market Staff
If we must take the central, top-down administrative state as a given—and it seems that for the time being the Constitution is not coming to…
News Release
CEI Supports Regulatory Integrity Act
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to vote on H.R. 5226, the Regulatory Integrity Act, introduced by Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). The…
Blog
How a New President Can Roll Back Bureaucracy, Part 1: Freeze Regulations Temporarily
In today’s economy, talk about regulatory liberalization has become a bit more bipartisan.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Despite a Labor Day-shortened work week, agencies still found time to issue regulations from soap to whales.
Blog
Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 6)
By shedding light on comparative agency activity, budgeting and simultaneous improved congressional oversight could counter agency overreach.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2016 Federal Register broke the 60,000-page mark last week, and became the 25th-largest edition in the Register’s 81-year history before Labor Day.
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: American Indian, EpiPen, and Free Speech Fiascos
In this episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we discuss the fiascos of government overreach and overregulation—on American Indian reservations, in the EpiPen saga, and with…
Blog
Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 5)
Benefits, even more so than costs do not lend themselves to measurement by a third party or external observer, and abuse will result from the…
Blog
Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 4)
This week I began by making the case for the idea of a regulatory cost budget but wanted to spend time exploring looming pitfalls and…
Blog
Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 3)
Monday in this space, I advocated the idea of a regulatory cost budget but noted there exist looming pitfalls and political traps that could derail…
Blog
Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 2)
I advocate the idea of a regulatory cost budget but note that there exists looming pitfalls and political traps that could derail it or easily…
Blog
Rewards and Risks of a Federal Regulatory Budget (Part 1)
Our case for capping and “budgeting” regulatory costs across federal agencies opens by asserting that that, perhaps apart from certain raw compliance and paperwork burdens,…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In one of their busiest weeks to date, agencies passed more than a hundred new regulations covering everything from rubies to frogs.
Daily Caller
Obama Finalized $100 BILLION Worth Of New Regulations This Year
The Daily Caller discusses the hidden costs of federal regualtions with Wayne Crews. A report by the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)…
Forbes
The Federal Communications Commission Should Take A Selfie
There are either dozens of federal agencies or hundreds, depending, seemingly, upon the day of the week or whom one asks. The Federal Communications…
Huffington Post
Unfair Policies Drive Up Home Prices
In an article for CNN, Democrat vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine outlines his and Hillary Clinton’s plan to promote fair housing – indeed a…
Blog
Can a New President Cut Regulations Unilaterally?
Both presidential candidates have delivered economic speeches over the past two weeks, and both have at least given a nod to red tape and the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Friday’s Federal Register was one of the year’s biggest, with 74 agency notices, 4 proposed regulations and 15 final regulations spanning 1,119 pages.
Forbes
How The Next President Can Use Executive Power To Jumpstart Economic Growth On Day One (Part 2)
The Federal Register contained over 7,700 rules and regulations among an all-time-record 73,000 pages the year President Reagan was elected. One response was his Executive…
Forbes
How The Next President Can Use Executive Power To Jumpstart Economic Growth On Day One (Part 1)
After what will have been eight years of debate over executive overreach and Barack Obama’s “pen and phone,” and it will be time for…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
88 new regulations last week, from poultry improvement to nuclear philosophy.
Reason
The Economic Stimulus Perplex: Could Regulation Be the Problem?
Reason cites the calculated cost of federal regulations from Wayne Crews's annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. Perhaps the answer to what ails the…
Daily Signal
Congress Waits for Obama’s Final Regulatory Costs Report, Later Than Usual
The Daily Signal discusses the need for a regulatory budget with Wayne Crews. “The reason this matters to the general public is that we…
Blog
Celebrating Two Great Economists: Bruce Yandle and Julian Simon
I’d like to second my colleague Fred’s birthday wishes for the distinguished economist Bruce Yandle of Clemson University.
Blog
Next Administration Will Have to Try Harder on Regulatory Moratorium
In a speech yesterday to the Detroit Economic Club, Donald Trump proposed a moratorium on new federal regulations.
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Congress is on its August recess, but agencies stayed busy with more than 2,000 Federal Register pages, 51 proposed regulations, and nearly 100 final regulations…
Blog
Tepid Economic Performance Argues for Cutting Government Red Tape
How is the economy doing? It’s a mixed picture.
Washington Times
Jump-starting America
The Washington Times cites the calculated cost of federal regulations from Wayne Crews's annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. Mr. Trump proposes a temporary…
Forbes
Here’s What Happened The Last Time We Tried Donald Trump’s Moratorium On Regulations
In Donald Trump’s Detroit economic speech and in his “An America First Economic Plan: Winning The Global Competition,” he said: "Upon taking…
Blog
EPA’s Missed Deadlines Causing Widespread Dysfunction
Yesterday I published a study that reviews EPA’s performance for more than 1,000 Clean Air Act deadlines. Here’s the big takeaway: the agency missed 84…
Washington Examiner
The White House is crippling our economy
Congressman Tom Price writes for Washington Examiner and highlights the cost of government red tape as calculated in Wayne Crews's annual report on the size of federal…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The 2016 Federal Register broke the 50,000-page mark on Friday, and remains on a record pace. New regulations for the week ranged from cement to…
Reason Magazine
Regulations Make Americans $4 Trillion Poorer
Reason Magazine reports on the costs of regulation as published in Wayne Crews's annual study on the size of federal regulation. The compliance…
Blog
Federal Register Tops 50,000 Pages, Yet Obama’s Report to Congress Is MIA
The annual Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal Entities is quite overdue.
Blog
Can the Ideas in the RNC Platform Help Reform Regulation?
Lord knows. But the Republican Party’s new platform which contains planks on such pressing issues as “Protection Against an Electromagnetic Pulse (p. 54),” also has…
Forbes
Unfunded Mandates On The States Rising Again
Fifteen Republican Attorneys General just wrote to House and Senate leadership, concerned about agencies “failing to fully consider the effect of their regulations on…
Forbes
Rick Perry: Black Lives Matter — And So Does Black Liberty
Texas Governor Rick Perry uses Wayne Crews's estimated cost of federal regulations in a speech at American Legislative Exchange Council's annual meeting. Governor Perry's speech was…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big story of the week was the new proposed payday lending regulation, which ate up 356 pages of Friday’s 625-page Federal Register.
CNBC
Supporting Trump over Clinton is a no-brainer
CNBC cites CEI's calculation of the cost of federal regulations as published in Wayne Crews's annual report on regulation. Politicized government agencies have engaged…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Net Neutrality
Under the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA), before an agency may issue a new rule, it must usually publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in…
Blog
Washington Post “Fact Checker” Column Still in Denial over Regulatory Costs
The Washington Post “Fact Checker” column is running its critiques of the Republican convention, and in the process is trying again to rebuff a $15,000…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Good Cause, Bad Faith
For the past seven decades, most federal agency actions must comport with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA lays out the basic processes required…
Blog
Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: The Series
Inspired by our friends at RegBlog, Open Market is publishing a new blog series this week on pressing issues in administrative law and regulatory policy.
Daily Caller
GOP Platform: It’s Time To Get Rid Of The EPA
The Daily Caller cites the cost of federal regualtions as calculated in Wayne Crews's annual report on the size of the federal regulatory state. …
Charleston Gazette-Mail
Capito attacks coal regulations, Clinton’s emails at RNC
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, in her speech at the Republican National Convention, focuses on the cost of federal regulations citing a figure from Wayne Crews's annual…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
New regulations from the past week cover everything from Namibian meat to California raisins.
Blog
The Next President Should Learn from Reagan’s Legacy on Government Reform
My colleague Wayne Crews has a fascinating policy brief out this week, “Channeling Reagan by Executive Order: How the Next President Can Begin Rolling Back…
News Release
Urgent Priority for Next President: Executive Order Limiting Regulation
As the Democrat and Republican parties debate priority issues for their party policy platforms, they have a unique opportunity to strike at out-of-control regulations. A…
Study
Channeling Reagan by Executive Order
How the Next President Can Begin Rolling Back the Obama Regulation Rampage…
Blog
Primer on the Separation of Powers Restoration Act
The House today will vote on H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA). This bill would direct courts to stop giving controlling respect…
The Hill
Big Brother? How SOPRA can help restore proper authority
The Internet as we know it may soon become unrecognizable. That’s because the freewheeling “network of networks” soon will be regulated by bureaucrats. The D.C.
Blog
House Judiciary Subcommittee Assesses OMB Review of Federal Regulations
Last week on July 6, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Sub-Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law conducted a hearing on…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week due to the Fourth of July holiday, but agencies still managed to issue new rules covering everything from stormwater…
Forbes
Here’s How Financial And Other Regulators Are Issuing Rules Without Writing Them
At the end of June I testified in a U.S. Senate Homeland Security Regulatory oversight subcommittee hearing on Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory…
Blog
Testimony on Regulatory Budgeting before the House Budget Committee
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee conducted a hearing on An Introduction to Regulatory Budgeting, and I was invited to testify by Chairman…
Blog
My One Agreement with Sen. Warren: Federal Rulemaking Should Be Transparent
In my two previous posts, I picked apart Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s allegation that notice and comment rulemakings are unfairly tilted in the favor of regulated…
Blog
More Wrongheadedness from Sen. Warren on Notice and Comment Rulemakings
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to undertake certain procedures when they promulgate rules of general applicability.
Blog
Sen. Warren’s Baseless Criticism of Notice and Comment Rulemaking
In a recent blog post about “regulatory capture,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed that notice and comment rulemaking is unduly biased towards regulated parties.
Politico
Congress is back!
Politico's Morning Energy mentions Wayne Crews's report on a federal regulatory budget. The House has all the committee action on the energy front,…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Maybe the recently-passed Congressional Review Act deadline we wrote about earlier hasn’t had much effect on midnight regulators.
Blog
Senate Gazes at Regulatory Dark Matter
The Senate Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management held a hearing yesterday, Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory Guidance, Part II, featuring testimony from…
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