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: Bird hunting and food coloring
The Federal Register’s website became less transparent about rule counts and other data. President Trump threatened to send the military into a third city. The…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Subsidies for billionaires with David McGarry
In this week’s episode we cover White House intervention in corporate ownership, the nation’s falling economic freedom ranking, and welcome new…
News Release
Federal appeals court rules on NLRB unconstitutionality
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today issued a ruling suggesting the structure of the federal government’s top labor dispute regulator, the National Labor Relations…
Search Posts
Blog
Cooking Up Fewer Regulations: Trump’s Significant Proposed Rules Down Over 70 Percent Compared To Obama
Whether looking at predecessors’ first or final years, Trump is so far the least regulatory president of all.
Blog
Through the Looking Glass: Washington Gets Curiouser and Curiouser
The following remarks were delivered by CEI President Kent Lassman at CEI’s Annual Dinner and Reception held on June 7, 2017. Thank you. Despite her…
Blog
Five Things You’ll Encounter at the CEI Dinner
This week, almost a thousand of Washington’s finest liberty lovers will travel through the rabbit hole to CEI’s Annual Dinner and Reception.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
After a lengthy delay, several Obama-era rules are starting to come into effect, especially energy-use rules ranging from refrigerators to ceiling fans.
Reason
Report: Obama’s Final Year Included a Mind-Boggling, Record-Breaking Number of Federal Regulations
Reason discusses CEI’s 10,000 Commandments with Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. During the final year of the Obama administration, federal regulations drained more than…
The Washington Times
Obama’s Regulations in 2016 to Drain Economy by $2 Trillion
The Washington Times covers 10,000 Commandments. The Obama administration issued a record number of new regulations on its way out the door in…
Washington Examiner
New Rules Surged in Obama’s Last Year to 3,853, Most Pages in Federal Register Ever
The Washington Examiner covers 10,000 Commandments. President Barack Obama’s last year in office set a high watermark for new federal rules and regulations…
The Daily Caller
This Is One GAME Congress Should Play… and Pass
The Daily Caller covers the GAME Act. With Congress hurtling toward a debt ceiling increase this summer and another budget showdown in the…
Investor's Business Daily
How Can Trump Make America’s Economy Great Again? By Deregulating It
Investor’s Business Daily covers CEI’s 10,000 Commandments, Regulation: If you wonder why President Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” and roll back needless…
The Wall Street Journal
The $600 Billion Man: A New Report Highlights One Cost of the Obama Legacy
As if taxes haven’t been high enough, the U.S. Government also forced Americans to spend an eye-watering $1.9 trillion in 2016 just to comply with…
The Washington Times
Inside the Beltway: Obama’s Unprecedented ‘Surge’ of Regulations
The Washington Times covers 10,000 Commandments by Wayne Crews. Big government was not quite good enough, perhaps. As a kind of grand finale,…
Blog
Top Stats from ‘10,000 Commandments’ for 2017
The 2017 report is unique and will serve as a benchmark to measure President Trump’s efforts to cut red tape against those of his predecessors.
News Release
Costs and Burden of Federal Regulations Reach $1.9 Trillion
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released the 2017 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State that estimates…
Blog
Why Not a “Nuclear Option” for Legislative Vetoes?
For the sake of clarity, I start with questions presented in this blog, which serve as a useful guide: Is it constitutional for one Congress…
Blog
Breaking: Gambling Bill Could Restore Freedom to States
Congress may soon consider a bill that would repeal outdated federal gambling prohibitions, and thus allow states to legalize and regulate any form of gambling,…
Study
Ten Thousand Commandments 2017
The burden of federal regulations on the American public reached a record $1.9 trillion last year. That amounts to a hidden tax of nearly $15,000 per…
Forbes
In Today’s World, Trump’s Balanced Budget Will Require Regulatory Reform
It seems every American president’s fiscal budget gets declared DOA. Presidents signal priorities to Congress, which subsequently goes and does at it chooses. Sen. Mitch…
Study
Dirty Dozen
View Full Document as PDF…
News Release
Changes to the Regulatory State Make Trump’s Budget Unique
The White House released President Trump’s 2018 budget proposal this week. Regardless of who’s in power, the U.S. budget for the next fiscal year will…
News Release
CEI Reviews Trump Budget on Regulation, EPA, Transportation and Infrastructure
Policy experts offered their first takes on President Trump's budget, with a focus on regulatory reform, the EPA, and transportation and infrastructure reforms.
The Daily Caller
Former Official: Trump Is ‘Going To Go Farther’ Than Reagan In Cutting EPA
The Daily Caller covers CEI’s petition with the EPA to review the endangerment finding. A former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official believes the…
The Daily Caller
Obama Administration’s Internet Regs Suffer First Huge Blow
The Daily Caller discusses the Federal Communications Commission’s vote on Net Neutrality with Ryan Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 2-1…
Foundation for Economic Education
The Progressives Took Away Our Right to Contract. It’s Time to Reclaim It
According to surveys, 77 percent of millennials want flexible work hours, which many say makes them more productive at work. Yet some recent…
Reason
Rand Paul’s REINS Act Finally Makes It to Senate Floor
Reason discusses Rand Paul’s REINS Act with Clyde Wayne Crews. A Senate committee vote on Wednesday is a new high water mark for…
Washington Free Beacon
Report: Net Neutrality Leads to Higher prices, Less Innovation
Washington Free Beacon covers CEI’s Net Neutrality report authored by Jessica Melugin and Ryan Radia. Keeping Obama administration-era net neutrality rules would result…
Reason
The Deregulator?
Reason discusses the Trump presidency in terms of deregulation with Myron Ebell. … Below the headline-generating clatter of travel bans, wiretap…
Politico
CEI Makes Case for Net Neutrality Rollback
Politico Morning Tech covers CEI’s Net Neutrality report authored by Ryan Radia and Jessica Melugin. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, in a report…
Forbes
These Federal Aviation Administration Regulations Are Why We’re Not Going to Mars
During president Donald Trump’s discussion about drinking processed urine on the International Space Station with duration record-setter Peggy Whitson, the exchange turned to a…
Learn Liberty
How “Regulatory Dark Matter” Blocks Innovation
The Trump administration’s desire to get rid of unnecessarily burdensome and unwise regulations is laudable, but fulfilling that desire won’t be easy. Nor will it…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations this year passed the one-thousand mark. While many of the new rules are delays or repeals of older rules,…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Another droll week on the regulatory front, with new rules ranging from UHF television to restaurant menus.
News Release
April Jobs Report Still Falls Short, Regulatory Reform Needed
The jobs report for April, 2017 shows decent but not spectacular progress, says the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Iain Murray. Though the economy added 211,000 jobs in April…
The Fiscal Times
How Congress Could Make Steve Bannon’s Wildest Dream Come True
The Fiscal Times discuses regulatory reform barriers that the administration faces with Wayne Crews. But as Wayne Crews of the right-wing Competitive Enterprise…
Washington Times
Pulling the Administrative State off Autopilot
Reducing burdensome regulations could unleash the full potential of America This past weekend marked President Trump’s 100th day in office. While tax cuts and health…
Blog
Celebrate National Small Business Week
There is no better way to celebrate National Small Business Week than for the Trump administration to rollback red tape that discourages business formation and…
New York Times
Fact-Checking President Trump Through His First 100 Days
The New York Times reports on President Trump highlighting CEI’s estimated cost of regulation from Wayne Crews’ annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. During…
Forbes
New Trump Executive Order Seeks To Boost Agriculture And Rural America
“My farmer died.” —Punchline to the old joke about why a USDA employee is weeping at his desk The ratio of number of farmers…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
While most of the week’s new final regulations are either routine or procedural, they still range from rural phone calls to airplane batteries.
National Review
Trump’s 100 Days Have Made a Good Start on Regulation
National Review highlights Wayne Crews’ calculated cost of regulation from his annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. While a regulatory improvement commission would help…
Forbes
New Trump Executive Orders Spotlight Interior And Education ‘Regulatory Dark Matter’
Executive orders and proclamations expanding the scope of Washington over the nation’s business characterized much of the Barack Obama presidency. The former president himself–not just…
Blog
Reviewing Trump’s First 100 Days
This Saturday, April 29th, marks President Trump’s 100th day in office, which offers us the opportunity to reflect on what his administration has accomplished so…
News Release
CEI Calls USA Act an “Important Step” to Restoring Separation of Powers
The Competitive Enterprise Institute supports the Unauthorized Spending Accountability (USA) Act of 2017, aimed at reducing and bringing transparency to executive branch spending. Ryan Young,…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Federal Register continues its slow march to the 20,000-page mark, but is still on pace for lowest page total since 1993.
Forbes
The Only Way Trump’s Washington Can Be Smaller In Four Years
There are now several moving and overlapping parts to President Donald Trump’s streamlining, swamp-draining, “deconstruction of the administrative state” agenda. Last week brought Office…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2017 Federal Register had another sub-thousand page week, though it is still already more than 18,000 pages long.
Blog
In Wake of United Debacle, Give Airlines – and Travelers – More Flexibility
Most of the time it’s actually government policies that end up ruining a traveler’s day.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Things remain slow on the regulatory front, with a large chunk of new rules being routine safety-zone and drawbridge scheduling regulations from the Coast Guard.
Blog
National Security Is No Argument against Regulatory Reform
On the Lawfare blog, Professor Ganesh Sitaraman of Vanderbilt Law School and the Center for American Progress offers an argument about regulatory reform that…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
There were 63 final regulations and 28 proposed regulations last week, but again, few of them amounted to much. We’ll have more to say on…
Blog
FTC Launches Economic Liberty Task Force to Fight Overregulation
Federal agencies have a well-deserved reputation for issuing regulations, publishing guidance documents, and bringing enforcement actions against American businesses. But when the stars align, agencies…
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