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
Here’s how one-in, ten-out is successfully cutting rules — but not draining the swamp
It’s October already, and while there’s no real fiscal year for federal regulation, the September 30 closing of the 2026 budgetary fiscal year marks…
Blog
The week in regulations: Drug prices and inedible almonds
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) learned the difference between the Atlanta Hawks and the Iowa Hawkeyes. President Trump rolled back some China tariffs and published…
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Free the Economy podcast: Real-world economics with Paul Mueller
In this week’s episode we cover spiraling health care costs, reforming state-level regulations, and how to keep asset managers accountable…
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Fox News
Super Bowl – Here’s Why it’s a Big Deal That You Can Place Your (Legal) Bets on the Big Game
For the first time since 1992, Americans outside of Nevada can legally wager on the outcome of the Super Bowl. This comes thanks to a recent…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Midwest froze, but the Federal Register began to heat up. As I predicted earlier, the first three post-shutdown editions were slow. Then Thursday’s edition…
Blog
A Brief Outline of Undisclosed Costs of Regulation
In my recent Forbes column “Rule of Flaw and the Costs of Coercion: Charting Undisclosed Burdens of the Administrative State,” I discussed checks on the…
Forbes
Rule of Flaw and the Costs of Coercion: Charting Undisclosed Burdens of the Administrative State
Bloated by Congress’s delegation of most lawmaking, the Administrative State sits in America’s middle seat with its elbows out.
Blog
Administrative Procedure Act Limitations: Cost Measurement and Disclosure
U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III noted in a 2017 journal article that regulation sometimes contains “too much detail,” changes too “frequently and capriciously,” creates backlogs and…
Blog
The Shutdown Is Over: How Does that Affect Regulation?
During the partial shutdown, the Federal Register slowed to a crawl. Published every weekday, an average day’s edition consists of about 270 pages and contains…
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