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: The Overton Window with James Hohman
In this week’s episode we cover Treasury yields, oil prices, US-China-Taiwan security policy, and Trump’s $5,000 dividend checks. Our…
Blog
How The No Surprises Act worsened the problem of surprise bills
Next week, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will convene a roundtable to discuss adjustments to the 2020 No Surprises Act, which has come under…
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The rules Congress never gets to see
The 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA) has been used to overturn only a few dozen federal regulatory directives since its enactment, most during the…
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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…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
New rules from the last week are as wide-ranging as ever, from dental effluence to reciprocating engines.
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