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
The week in regulations: Space modernization and closed captioning
Sir Patrick Stewart passed away at age 86. GDP growth came in higher than average for the third quarter, but so did September’s PCE…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Affording the American Dream with Akash Chougule
In this week’s episode we cover what’s making housing so expensive, the common good of the Constitution, and more jawboning…
Blog
The week in regulations: Mailing live animals and crash test dummy comments
A Trump administration envoy to Russia called Vladimir Putin a humanitarian. The Justice Department announced it will sue if the Republican Senate candidate in…
Search Posts
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…
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