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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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
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Regulation of the Day 211: The Color of Buildings
Officials in Calcutta, India definitely have a favorite color: sky blue.
Daily Caller
Simplicity is Beautiful: How to Build a Democracy
The Arab Spring is over a year old now. It’s too early to tell if that movement will bring liberal democracy to countries that badly…
Blog
Taxmageddon Comes Just After the Election
On December 31, shortly after the November election, tax rates will rise across the board in what congressional aides call "Taxmageddon," notes The Washington Post. Not…
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The STOCK Act: A Response to Professor Bainbridge
Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently responded to a National Review Online article by my colleagues John Berlau and David Bier in which they argue…
Blog
The Economist: Too Much Regulation
Sounds like writers for ?The Economist? have been reading some of CEI's regulatory research. From this week's magazine:…
Washington Times
No Master Lock on Job Creation
From Anneke Green's column in The Washington Times: The Obama administration’s favoritism for cronies is another drag on the business climate, such as…
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 16, 2012: Washington’s Prescription Drug Shortage
Patients are suffering from a nationwide shortage of more than 260 different prescription drugs, many of them for different types of cancer. Senior Fellow Greg…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 210: Transgendered Air Travelers
Canada is cracking down on the latest terrorist threat to innocent people everywhere: transgendered people. If their appearance doesn't match their ID's listed gender, they're…
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Congress Seems Intent on Making Drug Shortages Worse
Now that the problem of prescription drug shortages has begun to affect children, members of Congress want to be seen as…
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Regulation, Jobs, and Creating Wealth
Lobbying, politicking, and special favors are part and parcel of the regulatory process. The result is that many regulation-created jobs are not created on the…
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Lame Duck Sen. Herb Kohl Continues Quixotic Battle Against Rail Carriers in Senate Highway Bill
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), who will not be seeking reelection this November, decided that he would make one last-ditch attempt to get his awful piece…
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Misconceptions about the Obama Administration’s Contraception Mandate for Religious Employers
There are a number of misconceptions about the Obama administration’s recent rule requiring employers’ health insurance policies (including those of religious schools and hospitals) to…
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Regulation of the Day 209: Playing on the Beach
A recent Los Angeles County ordinance made it illegal to throw balls and even Frisbees on the city’s beaches.
Blog
Global Biotech Crop Acreage Up, Plus Clayton Yeutter on the Miracle of American Agriculture
Global planting of biotech crops grew 8 percent last year, to a record high of 395 million total acres, according to…
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Government Thwarts Cancer Cures and Production of Life-Saving Drugs
The federal government thwarted a promising cancer treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski on trial twice, saying “it did…
Washington Times
How to Swap the Obama Budget for an Optimistic Economic Growth Agenda
New spending in President Obama’s $3.8 trillion fiscal year 2013 budget would increase investments in education, manufacturing and R&D, transportation projects, electric vehicle incentives and…
Blog
The STOCK Act’s Muzzle and How to Fix it in Conference (Update)
My colleagues David Bier and Ryan Radia contributed to this post. Per the scenario in a previous post, it’s April 2012. You are a…
Blog
Good News/Bad News On Human Spaceflight Regulation
In a bill passed last week authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration for another year, the moratorium on regulation of the safety of spaceflight participants, in…
Washington Times
The Burden of Federal Rules: Our Other Trillion Dollar Debt
During the State of the Union address, President Barack Obama ridiculed regulations like one designating spilled milk an “oil,” and exclaimed, “In fact, I’ve approved…
Blog
Utah Doubles Down on Gambling Prohibition
It’s not news that regulators in Utah are often uncomfortable allowing residents to make their own decisions about how, when, or if they engage…
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CEI Podcast for February 2, 2012: The FDA’s Latest Power Grab
Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies Michelle Minton breaks down the FDA's behind-the-scenes push to regulate dietary supplements nearly as strictly as prescription drugs.
Blog
Facebook Filing Blasts Obama-Bush Overregulation of Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank
In his letter to prospective shareholders in the middle of the 201-page "Form S-1" that Facebook filed yesterday afternoon to launch its much-anticipated initial…
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Regulation of the Day 208: Re-Booking Flights
A new Department of Transportation regulation limiting re-booking fees caused one airline to add a $2 "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee" on every ticket…
Blog
12 More Law Schools Sued for Defrauding Their Students; Many More Class-Action Lawsuits Expected
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a team of eight law firms have just “sued a dozen more law schools across the country,…
Washington Times
The President’s Dangerous Grannynomics
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 30, 2012
In national news: Congressman Kurt Schrader of Oregon announced last week that he is withdrawing his support of the CARE Act, the piece of…
Blog
Justice Kagan Should Recuse Herself from Obamacare Case
Only in Bizarro World can you claim someone is your attorney -- and thus shielded by attorney work-product privilege -- and then insist in the…
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Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim. In…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
A local ordinance in Suffolk, Virginia prohibits driving motorized vehicles under their own power within city limits, plus more.
Blog
Is Bush or Obama the Bigger Regulator?
What the President said on Tuesday is technically correct. But, as with almost all political statements, there is more to the story.
Blog
The Silver Platypus
Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced it was considering scrapping the Silver Line stop at Dulles Airport. Though the Silver line was designed…
Washington Times
Social Security: The Birth of Big Brother
Nearly eight decades after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935, the program remains the most popular ever instituted…
Washington Times
Who’s the Bigger Regulator: Bush or Obama?
During his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Barack Obama got applause for acknowledging that some federal regulations are outdated, unnecessary or costly. He…
Blog
Stimulus was Designed to Provide Pork and Payoffs, Not to Revive the Economy
Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron argued that the $800 billion stimulus package wasn't even designed to stimulate the economy, but rather to benefit…
Blog
A Hidden Cost of Antitrust Regulation
Bryan Caplan argues that antitrust enforcement literally kills people. Bill Gates has given away billions of dollars and saved countless lives. If not for the…
Washington Times
President Obama’s State of the Union? Hyper-Regulated
The 2012 State of the Union Address ought to address the Mistakes of the Union when it comes to over-regulation of…
Blog
Law Schools Teach Junk, Exaggerate Their Students’ Job Prospects
Propped up by government subsidies and regulations requiring students to attend law school before taking the bar exam, law schools waste their students' time teaching…
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Obama, Scientific Integrity, and the State of the Union
With the State of the Union coming up, I’ve been wondering whether, or how, President Obama might address the Plan B fiasco…
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Regulation of the Day 207: Cold Medicine
The people of Illinois must present valid ID and be entered into a state database when buying cold medicine. Talk about adding insult to illness.
Blog
Doctors Grow Disenchanted With Obamacare’s Costs and Burdens; Health Care Law Arbitrarily Discriminates
69% of physicians are “pessimistic about the future of medicine” because of the 2010 healthcare law, notes Dr. Marc Siegel in USA Today. “Just…
Blog
Dodd-Frank Claims 4,300 More Jobs, Reduces Consumer Choice in Mortgage Market
The Dodd-Frank law passed in 2010 in the name of “financial reform” has wiped out another 4,300 jobs: MetLife is closing down its growing…
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Obama Administration to People Needing Bone Marrow Transplants: Drop Dead
In December, a federal appeals court ruled in Flynn v. Holder that the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 (NOTA)…
Blog
Court Ruling Broadening Americans with Disabilities Act Will Harm Taxicab Safety and Cost Hundreds of Millions
A federal judge last month barred New York City's “Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing permits for taxicabs unless they're accessible to people who…
Washington Times
William Yeatman: Politics and the Keystone Pipeline
William Yeatman: Politics and the Keystone Pipeline…
Daily Caller
Obama is Ignoring His Own Jobs Council Recommendations
The Daily Caller discusses the federal regulatory burden with Wayne Crews. An analysis of just this year’s new regulations — and we’re only…
Blog
War on Drugs Keeps Badly Needed, Perfectly Legal Medicine Away from Sick People
Sick people, like those suffering from narcolepsy, are suffering from a manufacturing shortage of Adderall. That shortage was caused by the Drug Enforcement Agency,…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 18, 2012: Dropping the SOPA
Wikipedia, Reddit, and other popular websites all went black today to protest SOPA and PIPA, two bills currently before Congress. Critics charge that the bills…
Blog
John Kay on the Market Economy
In a truly excellent column for the Financial Times today, John Kay lays out in a few hundred words a clear defense of the…
Blog
The Non-EU Space Code of Conduct
For over a year, there has been concern that the White House would sign an executive order requiring U.S. space activities to adhere to the…
Canada Free Press
The U.S. Is on a Suicide Watch
The Canada Free Press discusses the costs of federal regulation with Wayne Crews. In April 2011, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Judge Criticizes American Law Schools
A prominent federal judge has added to the growing chorus of criticism for American law schools and their failure to provide practical training for…
Canada Free Press
Ryan Radia: SOPA could change the way the internet works
SOPA could change the way the internet works. Now, some of the biggest websites in the world like Google and Wikipedia are going dark in…
Blog
WaPo Columnist Calls for Cordray’s Consumer Bureau to be “Big Brother”
"Big Brother." When commentators use that phrase to describe a government agency, it is most often not meant as a compliment. Rather, it is wielded…
Blog
New York Times Documents the Case for Freedom
It’s not every day that the front page of The New York Times has two articles that highlight the importance of limited government, but today’s…
Blog
Re-organizing the Federal Government to Crush Opposition
One of the few virtues of the federal government has been its inefficiency. With functions spread out across different agencies and duplicated powers and responsibilities,…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 13, 2012
Out with the old year and out with the old alcohol laws! 2012 is off to a great start with several states reducing the regulatory…
Canada Free Press
Myron Ebell: Environmental issues and the 2012 election
Myron Ebell: Environmental issues and the 2012 election…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 206: Buying Drain Cleaner
The state of Illinois now requires consumers to show valid ID to buy drain cleaner.
Blog
EEOC Says High-School Diploma is Discriminatory Requirement, Stretches Employment Laws to Harm Small Employers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently posted a letter on its website claiming that it is illegal for employers to have a high-school diploma requirement…
Blog
Price Fixing Causes Greek Medicine Shortage
Greece is rapidly degenerating into third-world status. The UK’s Daily Mail reports: Youngsters are being dumped by their parents who are struggling to make…
Blog
U.S. Economic Freedom Declines as Regulations Increase
Economic Freedom in the United States declined over the past year, according to the newly released 2012 edition of the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal global…
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Supreme Court Rejects Obama Administration Power Grab Over Churches in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC
The Supreme Court has rejected the Obama administration's argument that it can dictate who churches hire as ministers or clergy in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 205: Singing the National Anthem
Indiana state Sen. Vaneta Baker has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to sing the national anthem incorrectly.
Canada Free Press
EPA’s Latest Power Grab
Chris Horner explains the EPA's latest power grab involving private property rights in Idaho…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
The latest goings-on in the world of regulation:…
Blog
Fannie and Freddie Helped Spawn the Mortgage Crisis, and So Did Affordable Housing Mandates
In a recent letter in The New York Times, I noted the role played by the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 204: How to Buy Liquor
Self-checkout lanes have been popping up in grocery stores across the country over the last several years. Some people worry that without the adult supervision…
Blog
Wisconsin: The Canary in the Coal Mine
Faced with a $9.2 billion budgetary shortfall next year, California Gov. Jerry Brown has not surprisingly reached for the only tool in the Democratic shed…
Blog
Regulatory Capture
Businesses, especially larger ones, aren’t afraid of regulation. They often welcome it. They can use rules to stifle competitors, or can pad their profits by…
Canada Free Press
The Backwards Purpose of EPA’s Environmental Justice Grants
Chris Horner explains the EPA's "environmental justice" grants.
Blog
Cordray Already on Board — In a Video — At Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Obama administration wasted no time in putting in place – in a home-page video — Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial…
Blog
CEI Files Amicus Brief in Magner v. Gallagher, to Guard Against Financial Meltdowns and Racial Preferences
To help prevent another financial crisis, CEI helped file an amicus brief in a pending Supreme Court case, Magner v. Gallagher. The case tests…
Blog
Cordray Recess Appointment is Travesty for Government Accountability
News is just breaking that President Obama will today make a "recess" appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a powerful and…
Blog
Obamacare Causes Layoffs in Medical Device Industry, Harms Medical Innovation
Ramesh Ponnuru writes about the layoffs and lost jobs resulting from Obamacare's new tax on medical devices at Bloomberg News: A year from…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 203: Sledding
Out-of-towners are not allowed to go sledding in Beaver Borough, Pennsylvania.
Canada Free Press
A New Year’s Resolution for Capitol Hill
Canada Free Press
Myron Ebell explains the benefits of a Fed. Judge blocking California’s plan to regulate emissions
Myron Ebell explains the benefits of a Fed. Judge blocking California's plan to regulate emissions…
Blog
CEI Podcast for December 29, 2011: A Record Year for Regulation
Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews talks about why 2011 was a record year for both new regulations and their cost, and his ongoing "Ten…
Blog
America’s Businesses Get It: Immigration Is Good
Anti-immigration advocates believe that harsh new laws will drive illegal immigrants out of the United States. They ignore the fact that the primary victim…
Blog
Obamacare Stifles Job Creation, Causes Layoffs
At Bloomberg News, Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., explains how the 2010 healthcare law is preventing jobs from being created and resulting…
Blog
Record Red Tape
Over at Big Government today I noted the Federal Register of 2011 has almost reached the level of last year’s record. Given that 2011’s…
Canada Free Press
Another Record-Breaking Federal Register? Federal Regulations Surge in 2011
The Federal Register is the daily depository of all proposed and final rules and regulations, as well as presidential documents, executive orders, agency internal…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 202: Farting Pigs
It isn’t often that one sees Nobel-winning economist Ronald Coase’s name and pig farts in the same sentence. Thanks to a recent court decision in…
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Businessmen: Obamacare Stops Them from Hiring
Journalist John Stossel describes how "three successful businessmen came on" his TV show last week "to explain how Obamacare is a reason that unemployment stays…
Blog
Holiday Travel Travails
Just in time for the holiday travel season, Vanity Fair’s Charles C. Mann took a trip through airport security with security expert Bruce Schneier.
Blog
2011 Brought Lots of Good News for Salt Lovers
With holiday cooking on most of our minds this week, it's worth celebrating some good news about one of the most beleaguered food ingredients: table salt. For…
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Governor Dayton’s Baleful Influence on Labor Relations
Minnesota State Senator Mike Parry (R-Waseca) recently caused a stir with strong accusations against Governor Mark Dayton. “It's no secret that the labor unions helped…
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Dick Durbin’s Hypocritical Quest for “Honest Information’ on Bank Fees
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wants banks and credit unions to know that he's all about transparency and "honesty" in consumer fees. In his…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: December 20, 2011
With the holidays near and all in good cheer, here is some alcohol news at which you can jeer. And you plan on having booze…
Blog
Useless Law School “Educations” Shielded Against Improvement and Competition by Special-Interest-Driven Regulations
The New York Times featured an excellent news story Sunday by David Segal on the costly white elephant that is legal education in America.
Blog
Memo to Gingrich: Credit Unions are Not GSEs
Let me begin this post with a disclaimer, of which many of our readers are already aware. The Competitive Enterprise Institute and OpenMarket.org do not…
Blog
FDA Needs to Act on Internet and Social Media Policy
Way back in September 2009, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would begin using the social media site Twitter to share news and other…
Blog
Obama’s Transparency War Targets Climate Skeptics
President Obama ran on a platform of transparency. He praised whistleblowers. “Such acts of courage and patriotism,” he said, “should be encouraged rather…
Blog
NTSB Recommends Useless National Ban on All Mobile Phone Use while Driving
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday called on all states to ban "the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (other than those designed…
Blog
FDA Was Right to Deny Petition to Restrict Animal Antibiotics
I didn't have a chance to write about it then, but a few weeks back the Food and Drug Administration denied a…
Blog
A Nice Review of Stealing You Blind
David Hogberg of Investor’s Business Daily and The American Spectator has a very complimentary review of my book, Stealing You Blind: How Government Fatcats…
Blog
CEO of Land-Based Casino Morally Opposed to Online Gambling
File under Hypocrisy 101. Sheldon Adelson, the CEO and Chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns some of the largest casinos in…
Blog
Immigration is Good for Natives
Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia are joining the list of states with tough anti-immigration laws. On January 1, most of those laws…
Blog
Print Out Your Durbin Dollars
Senator Dick Durbin has a truly backwards view of how capitalism is supposed to work. Thanks to price controls produced by his amendment to the…
Blog
The GOP Response to TSA Strip-Searches
The TSA has allegedly strip-searched an elderly woman for wearing a back brace. They wrongly suspected it was a money belt. This search was security-unrelated;…
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