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
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Free the Economy podcast: Pension politics with Jarrett Skorup
In this week’s episode we cover more legal headaches for the Trump tariffs, keeping kids safe in an AI world, and California’s…
Blog
The week in regulations: Fluid milk options and battleship safety zones
The Court of International Trade struck down President Trump’s Section 122 tariffs. The labor force shrank by 92,000 people over the last year. Agencies issued…
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Free the Economy podcast: Highway robbery with David Ditch
In this week’s episode we cover how to make the moral case for capitalism, affordable housing via regulatory reform, and tracking…
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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…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- 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