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.
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Regulatory Reform in the 118th Congress: Separation of Powers Restoration Act
The separation of powers is a key aspect of American government. To decentralize power and ensure checks and balances, the Founders divided the federal government…
City Journal
Roll It Back
Medicaid, the federal-state entitlement for the poor, now provides health insurance to more than one in four Americans. Enrollments surged after the Affordable Care Act…
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This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
An Executive Order from the Biden administration made some of the biggest system-level regulatory changes in years. It raises the threshold for “economically significant”…
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Avoid Hindering the Internet’s Evolution through Net Neutrality Regulation
Liberate to Stimulate Index In 2010, Congress failed to enact legislation authorizing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce network neutrality rules.
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Advance a Global Pro-Trade Agenda
Liberate to Stimulate Index Increasing liberalization of world trade is a key factor behind the dramatic increase in global prosperity since the…
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Rein in the $1.75 Trillion Regulatory State
Liberate to Stimulate Index Regulations are frequently anti-competitive and anti-consumer. They cost consumers hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Policy makers…
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Avoid Energy and Global Warming Policies that Pose Greater Risks than Global Warming
Liberate to Stimulate Index Global warming has been described as the greatest threat facing mankind, but the policies designed to address global…
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Recognize the Value of Hedge Funds and Private Equity for Entrepreneurs and Shareholders
Liberate to Stimulate Index Hedge funds and private equity are vehicles for wealthy investors to take risks and potentially reap high returns.
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Reform Federal Agriculture Programs
Liberate to Stimulate Index With America’s economy struggling to roar back to strong growth and a deficit approaching $1 trillion, policy makers…
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