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
Washington Examiner
Congress needs to end regulation without representation
Taxation without representation is the antithesis of freedom and runs counter to the basic principles guiding our nation. So why is regulation without representation not…
News Release
‘Ten Thousand Commandments’ report on federal regulation exposes Washington’s big costs, little accountability
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released its annual report on the federal regulatory state, Ten Thousand Commandments by Clyde Wayne Crews. Federal regulatory…
Study
Ten Thousand Commandments 2024
The hidden tax of regulation has proved appealing to lawmakers who feel the pressure of a national debt topping $34 trillion. Off-budget regulations requiring private…
Search Posts
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…
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