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
Ten Thousand Commandments 2025 is out now
The 2025 edition of CEI’s flagship report, Ten Thousand Commandments, is out today. For more than 30 years, my colleague Wayne Crews has been…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Reforming Washington’s 10,000 Commandments with Wayne Crews
In this week’s episode we cover the political roots of totalitarianism, why we should put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out to…
Study
Ten Thousand Commandments 2025
Introduction Record federal debt is contributing to record-setting regulatory burdens. While new spending programs show up in budget figures, new regulations requiring the private sector…
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The Wall Street Journal
Flying the Politically Correct Skies
The Wall Street Journal cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on Biden’s federal budget: Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute …
Forbes
Post-Covid Warning: Fence Federal Regulation and Spending Before the Next Economic Shock
Does it make sense as an ongoing tenet of public policy to regard a few weeks or months of business disruption, like that characterizing the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
CEI’s Wayne Crews looked at the Biden administration’s dismantling transparency reforms for guidance documents and warned that political spending on scientific research would…
Blog
EPA Follows Through on Biden Directive to Hide Guidance Documents from the Public
Before President Joe Biden signed an executive order called Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation that, among much else, instructed federal agencies…
News Release
Some Good News in April 2021 Job Numbers
The unemployment rate didn’t budge much in April, according to just-released data from the Labor Department, but CEI labor policy expert Sean Higgins…
Marketplace
Democrats In Congress In No Hurry To Overturn Trump-Era Regulations
Marketplace cites Senior Fellow Mario Loyola on regulatory reform: Mario Loyola at the Competitive Enterprise Institute said that’s because Republicans were on…
Forbes
Laws Have Mercy: Here is How Biden is Restricting Access to Regulatory Guidance Documents
A significant component of Joe Biden’s first 100 days has been the rapid reversal and work-in-process unwinding of former president Donald Trump’s efforts to…
Las Vegas Review Journal
EDITORIAL: Infrastructure Package Meets Federal Red Tape
The Las Vegas Review-Journal cites Senior Fellow Mario Loyola on Biden’s infrastructure plan: The projects that might survive the legislative process as…
Bloomberg Law
Biden Infrastructure Plan Has Unlikely Ally in Trump Permit Redo
Bloomberg Law cites Senior Fellow Mario Loyola on Biden’s infrastructure plan: Mario Loyola, who served as CEQ’s associate director for regulatory reform…
News Release
CEI Commends Sen. Lankford for Introducing Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act
On Thursday, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act. The bill would establish an independent commission to…
National Affairs
Putting Regulators on a Budget
National Affairs cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the cost of regulation: Separately, in 2015, regulatory analyst Clyde Wayne Crews…
Washington Examiner
Congress must reassert its legislative authority
It is tempting to claim that resource allocation questions are starker than ever. The classic formulation in political science is guns or…
News Release
CEI Offers Reform Ideas to Congress Aimed at Fostering Resilience and Promoting Economic Renewal
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) offered a set of policy reform goals for the 117th Congress focused on economic stimulus and regulatory…
Products
Free to Prosper: Banking and Finance
View the full chapter on banking and finance here Access to capital, credit, and financial services are fundamental to the operation of a free…
Products
Free to Prosper: Labor and Employment
View the full chapter on labor and employment here Increases in productivity, not artificial increases in labor prices, are the key to economic growth…
Products
Free to Prosper: Regulatory Reform
Read the full chapter on regulatory reform here The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of things. One of those things is regulation. People quickly…
Products
Free to Prosper: Technology and Telecommunications
View the full chapter on technology and telecommunications here Few economic sectors rival the technology and telecommunications industries in how rapidly—and momentously—they have evolved.
Products
Free to Prosper: Food, Drugs, and Consumer Freedom
View the full chapter on food, drugs, and consumer freedom here Few matters are as important to individuals as the foods they eat, how…
Products
Free to Prosper: Medical Technology and Health Care
View the full chapter on medical technology and health care here American consumers benefit from a bounty of choice, competition, and innovation in health…
Products
Free to Prosper: Trade
View the full chapter on trade here The new Congress has two urgent tasks on trade policy. First, it needs to help heal the…
Products
Free to Prosper: Transportation
View the full chapter on transportation here Mobility is one of our most important needs, one we often take for granted until it is…
Products
Free to Prosper: Energy and Environment
View the full chapter on energy and environment here REJECT THE GREEN NEW DEAL AND SIMILAR CENTRAL PLANNING SCHEMES The Green New Deal (GND),…
The Washington Times
With an Eye on Prosperity
The Washington Times cites CEI’s publication, Free to Prosper, and related online event: The Competitive Enterprise Institute will release “Free to Prosper,”…
National Review
Tyrannosaurus Regs and Regulatory Dark Matter: Biden’s Accountability Deficit on Regulation
Washington’s new motto is: When you run out of other people’s money, keep spending anyway. It’s a sad state of affairs when a national debt …
Forbes
The Best American Rescue Plan Is An “Abuse-Of-Crisis Prevention Act”
If limits exist that constrain politicians and the legislation they can enact in the name of crisis, rescue or stimulus, it is unclear what they…
Politico
Biden Won’t Release White House Virtual Visitor Logs
Politico cites CEI’s 2020 edition of 10 Thousand Commandments by Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews: In addition, Republican…
The Western Journal
Trump Program Saved $160 Billion, Cut Regulatory Costs 90% – Biden Killed It
The Western Journal cites Vice President for Policy on the impact of President Biden’s regulatory actions: “I don’t think progressives think regulations…
Fox Business
Biden on Day 1 Scrapped Trump Rule that Helped US Save $160 Billion: Report
Fox Business cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on regulations and the Biden administration: But Clyde Wayne Crews, a vice president…
The Washington Times
Biden Overturned Trump Deregulation Rule That Saved U.S. $160 Billion: Analysis
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on regulations and the Biden administration: “Biden has jettisoned … most of…
News Release
CEI Backs Sen. Johnson’s Call for President Biden to Re-Instate Transparency in Agency Guidance Executive Order
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and 20 of his colleagues sent a letter to President Biden, requesting he reverse his decision to overturn Executive Order 13,891,…
Las Vegas Review Journal
EDITORIAL: Regulatory benefits that are ‘impossible’ to quantify
The Las Vegas Review Journal cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews and CEI’s “10 Thousand Commandments”: Needless to say, President Joe…
Forbes
The 2021 “Unconstitutionality Index”: 19 Federal Rules And Regulations For Every Law Congress Passes
Even in a presidential administration bent on cutting regulation like the one that just decamped for Florida, the number of rules from hundreds of federal…
Reason
Biden Tells Federal Bureaucrats To Approve Regulations With Benefits That Are ‘Impossible To Quantify’
Reason cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on President Biden’s latest directive: “The aim is to put weight on the scales…
Reason
Biden Tells Federal Bureaucrats To Approve Regulations With Benefits That Are ‘Impossible To Quantify’
Reason cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the regulatory state under President Biden: “The aim is to put weight on…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing H.R. 1 and S.R. 1
View Full Article as PDF Dear Speaker Pelosi, Republican Leader McCarthy, Majority Leader Schumer, and Republican Leader McConnell, On behalf of the millions…
World Net Daily
Overlooked Biden Executive Order Could Have Greatest Harmful Impact
World Net Daily cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on regulatory reform: Clyde Wayne Crews, a regulation expert at the Competitive…
Forbes
Biden Repudiates Trump Era With Revocation Of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation
As part of a “Day One” “flurry” of executive action, President Joe Biden issued an “Executive Order on Revocation of Certain…
Citation
Let Them Learn
The Wall Street Journal cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on Biden’s “Modernizing Regulatory Review” plan: In the meantime, Wayne Crews at the Competitive…
E&E News
Biden Signals ‘New Direction’ On Regulations
E&E News cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on President Biden’s regulatory review process: Wayne Crews, an analyst at the conservative…
The Washington Examiner
Biden’s Quest to Reverse Trump-Era Environmental Rollbacks Could Take Years
The Washington Examiner cites Director of the Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell on regulatory reform and the Biden administration: “Changing…
Forbes
Status Report: What Regulations Did The Trump Administration Eliminate In 2020?
Bookending four years of its infamous one-in, two-out requirement for issuing significant new regulations, the Trump administration quietly just released its status roundup called “…
Washington Examiner
Biden Poised to Be the Biggest Regulator in History
The Washington Examiner cites Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on regulatory reform: “Biden has signaled in all areas that the Trump…
Forbes
Donald Trump’s Year In Regulation, 2020
Today, Thursday, December 31, is the last federal workday of 2020. This presents the opportunity to review the heft of the Federal Register and its roundup of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2020 election is finally, mercifully, over. Barring a surprise in the Georgia Senate runoffs, we will continue to have divided government. This arrangement typically…
Forbes
Some Trump Executive Orders On Regulation Need To Be Kept No Matter What
Some see federal regulatory intervention as unaccountable and unrestrained. That was and remains a key focus of the Donald Trump reform agenda. Executive orders addressing…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The 2024 election season officially began on Wednesday. The 2020 Federal Register topped 70,000 pages right on election day, and is on pace to be…
EP NewsWire
COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Record GDP Numbers: Good News and Next Steps
EP NewsWire cites CEI senior fellows Iain Murray and Ryan Young on economy and regulations. Ryan Young, CEI Senior Fellow: “Most of the talk…
Blog
The 2020 Election Actually Had Some Free-Market Victories
Neither presidential candidate has much interest in limited government. But over at National Review, I look at some neglected down-ballot victories…
Company News HQ
Uncertain Regulatory Relief at an Uncertain Time
Once the election dust settles, Congress will wrangle over another COVID-19 spending bill, but regulation will ultimately have greater impact on the recovery. Agencies have…
Blog
Regulatory Relief Needs Better Transparency
Getting rid of #NeverNeeded regulations is one of the most important policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The short-term benefits are obvious, but the…
USAToday
Trump or Biden: Who would boost growth, restore jobs faster? Here’s an Election Day guide on the economy
USAToday cites Competitive Enterprise Institute on regulations in their article on election day guide. President Trump says he’ll continue to aggressively cut regulations. He initially promised to…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The Los Angeles Dodgers won baseball’s World Series. GDP numbers bounced back in a big way, though the economy is still smaller than…
Wall Street Journal
Trump’s Already Won
Wall Street Journal cites Senior Fellow Clyde Wayne Crews on federal red tape. From the start of his presidency, Mr. Trump paired tax reform with aggressive…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In the news last week, the Justice Department filed an antitrust case against Google. It is the highest-profile antitrust case since the 1998-2002 Microsoft case.
Foreign Affairs
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Becerra Condemns Trump Administration Rule Undermining Cost-Saving Efficiency Standards for Residential Dishwashers
Foreign Affairs cite Competitive Enterprise Institute on dishwashers and regulatory policy. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued the following statement in response to the…
The Daily Signal
Cleaner Faster? Trump to Let Dishwashers Use More Water
The Daily Signal cites Competitive Enterprise Institute on dishwashers and regulatory policy. Dishwashers on average take about two and a half hours to wash a load…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a four-day week due to Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day—the controversy over which was just one of the things people were outraged…
Wall Street Journal
Democrats Assured ACA Would Come Before ACB
California and the House asked the Supreme Court to fast-track’s Texas’ challenge to the law. Democrats now claim they oppose Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation…
Blog
Forty Years of Freedom: Rail Deregulation Worked
Forty years ago today, President Carter signed the Staggers Act, which deregulated the American freight rail industry. As CEI has long maintained, this…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was another volatile pre-election week. A still-symptomatic President Trump returned to the White House from Walter Reed hospital during prime time. More key staffers…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis marked the first of what will likely be many October surprises. Congress agreed on one spending bill to avoid another shutdown,…
Forbes
Federal Paperwork Consumes The Equivalent Of 16,267 Human Lifetimes
As the latest edition of the federal Information Collection Budget of the United States Government(ICB) from the White House Office of Management and…
News Release
CEI Experts Applaud Sens. Lankford, Johnson, and Portman for Independent Regulatory Commission Legislation
On Thursday, Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act. The House…
Blog
Senators Introduce Regulatory Commission Bill
CEI’s approach to regulatory reform has an overarching theme: It is not enough to get rid of this or that harmful regulation. For the benefits…
Forbes
Trump’s Executive Order 13,891 Creates Portals For Federal Agency Guidance Documents; And Here They Are
In a leap forward for governmental disclosure and accountability, federal agencies late last year were directed to scrub their guidance documents and post online those…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Scientists may have found potential chemical evidence of life on Venus—phosphine gas, which in Venusian conditions may well have been produced by anaerobic (non-oxygen-using)…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a four-day work week due to Labor Day. There were massive fires along the West coast, and Congress declined to pass a $500…
Blog
Executive Order 13,891 Sub-Regulatory Guidance Document Portal Tops 70,000 Entries
Congress makes laws. Agencies make rules, but they also issue guidance documents in heretofore unknown quantity. The year 2019 brought Executive Order 13891 (“Promoting the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
As Labor Day marked the unofficial end of summer, the unemployment rate went back down to 8.4 percent, and Attorney General Barr announced that the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
COVID-19 deaths passed 200,000 in the United States, and are roughly 1 million worldwide. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing sparked a fresh Supreme…
Acton Institute
Thank God for single-use plastic bags
Thank God for single-use plastic bags Acton Institute cites Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini on environmental regulation and consumer freedom. The policy hardly affects one of its…
AM 790 WNIS
AM 790 WNIS
AM 790 WNIS AM790 NewsTalk WNIS cites CEI on economy and regulation. Competitive Enterprise Institute is a free-market think tank that seeks to reform the administrative…
Foreign Affairs
MIL-OSI USA: Brindisi calls on FCC to reverse course and protect customers from costly Spectrum data caps
MIL-OSI USA: Brindisi calls on FCC to reverse course and protect customers from costly Spectrum data caps Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) from United States…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
COVID-19 deaths passed 200,000 in the United States, and are roughly 1 million worldwide. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing sparked a fresh Supreme…
The Hill
Ending Counterproductive, Counterintuitive Regulation
Early in the COVID-19 crisis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chided the Trump administration’s response and demanded “testing, testing, testing.” Yet, when…
USA Today
Trump, Biden Tout Contrasting Economic Plans. Which Will Restore Jobs Lost in the Pandemic Faster?
USA Today cites CEI on regulatory reform: The president says he’ll continue to aggressively cut regulations. He initially promised to scrap two rules…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The last week saw another political convention, another police shooting, and two hurricanes. There was at least one major positive story, though. Polio has finally…
Forbes
What Comes After Trillion? Coming To Terms With The Impenetrable Costs Of Government Intervention
“We print it digitally,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said of money. They sure do. Real fiscal debt…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The spring 2020 Unified Agenda was published on August 17. Due four months ago, it collects every rulemaking agency’s plans for upcoming regulations. The number…
National Review
App Shrugged: Will Uber Go Galt in California?
The rideshare company Uber is threatening to end its operations in California entirely if the Golden State forces the company to classify all its drivers as…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Kamala Harris was announced as the Democratic dvice-presidential candidate, a massive storm swept through the Midwest, and Congress is out of session until September. The…
News Release
Regulatory Report Card Act Brings Accountability to Government, Wins Praise from CEI Expert
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) introduced a Regulatory Report Card Act directing the Comptroller General of the United States to issue regulatory scorecards to agencies. The…
Blog
America’s “Unconstitutional Slop” Predates Trump’s Executive Actions on Pandemic Economic Relief
The logic of the administrative state dictates the expansion of itself in response to any crisis. Executive actions play a game rigged against limited government.
Blog
New CEI Video: Eliminating Never Needed Regulations to Help with Recovery
In a new CEI video, Kent Lassman talks about three things agencies can do rein in regulations that are hindering the COVID-19 response and making…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
August’s 2020 disaster list so far includes a massive warehouse explosion in Beirut that killed more than 100 people and Hurricane Isaias. In positive news,…
Blog
Cautious Optimism on July Jobs Numbers: Prudence, Resilience Will Aid Recovery
In July, 1.8 million new jobs were created, and the unemployment rate dropped to 10.2 percent. That is a welcome follow-up to the second quarter’s…
Blog
When Spending Is Regulation: The Grand Unification Theory of Government Growth
Alongside helplessness in the face of a looming $27 trillion debt, debating administrative state policy hasn’t been much help in forestalling federal government growth.
Blog
An Executive Order 13,891 Guidance Document Portal Update: Another Lap to Go
President Donald Trump’s October 9, 2019 Executive Order 13,891 (E.O. 13,891) and a subsequent White House Office of Management directive to amplify and clarify it…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
What a week. COVID-19 deaths passed 150,000. Second-quarter GDP declined 9.5 percent from a year ago and 7 percent from the previous quarter. In more uplifting…
Blog
2020 Second Quarter GDP Decline Is Worst in U.S. History—But Not 32.9 Percent
The good news is that the second quarter’s GDP numbers aren’t nearly as scary as the more dramatic headlines are saying. The economy has not…
Forbes
Antitrust Showdown In Congress: Big Tech, Meet Big Government
There’s a contradiction in the Trump, and by extension Republican, deregulatory agenda that could inadvertently threaten the recovery of an already wavering economy. That aberration…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 4 million last week. Congress returned to session after its July 4 break and is putting together…
News Release
Repeal #NeverNeeded Regulations Hindering Use of Tech at Home During Deadly Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis has severely tested individuals and businesses, making access to technologies and services that enabled large swaths of the American economy to move…
Study
Repeal of #NeverNeeded Regulations Can Help People Stay Home and Safe During the COVID-19 Crisis
As individuals and businesses continue to address the COVID-19 health crisis, access to technologies and services that have enabled large swaths of the economy to…
Blog
Deregulate to Stimulate: #NeverNeeded Regulations Are Harming Health and Economy
The Code of Federal Regulations contains more than 1.1 million regulatory restrictions. State and local governments have additional rules. Some of those rules have a…
Blog
How to Spot a #NeverNeeded Regulation
Regulatory reform is one of the most important weapons there is for fighting COVID-19 and for aiding the economic recovery after the worst passes. Where…
Blog
Trump Administration Celebrates Red Tape Reduction, Promising More
The White House hosted a midsummer celebration on the South Lawn of the Trump administration’s reforms and reductions of unneeded “job killing regulations” and red…
Forbes
Donald Trump Showcases Four Years Of Red Tape Reduction At White House Event
The White House hosted a midsummer South Lawn celebration showcasing the Trump administration’s reforms and reductions of “job killing regulations” and…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
After another busy week for agencies, the 2020 Federal Register is on pace to be 79,121 pages. None of those pages include the Spring 2020…
Blog
How to Make #NeverNeeded-Style Reforms Stick
There are lots of good regulatory reform ideas out there. The ideas with the most staying power share a common theme. They don’t just treat…
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