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
Is Congress even trying? 3,248 new rules vs. 175 laws
In 2024, federal agencies issued 3,248 rules and regulations, while Congress enacted only 175 laws. I refer to the simple ratio—19 rules for…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Draining the swamp with Jim Bovard
In this week’s episode we cover fake endangered species, Pennsylvania’s climate policy showdown, a robust defense of property rights in New…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Seat belts and eagle possession
This week’s roundup will be a little different than usual. Since the new year began mid-week, and I already published a breakdown of 2024’s year-end numbers, as…
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Blog
Government Meddling Won’t Create Jobs
The Hill recently ran my letter to the editor responding to Sen. Tom Harkin’s column, “Republican attacks on workers’ rights won’t create jobs.” I make…
Blog
CEI Podcast for November 23, 2011: The Most Expensive Regulation of All Time?
What is the single most expensive regulation of all time? Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman has one candidate: the EPA’s proposal to regulate mercury emissions…
Op-Eds
Obamacare Sequesters Your Flex Account
Attention Joe and Jane Citizen! Concerned about the fiscal future of your country and your family? Then please step away for five minutes from the…
Citation
Clean Energy: The Dirty Truth
CEI fellow Bill Frezza says that government should not pick winners and losers in energy…
Blog
Amtrak Bans 12-Year-Old Unaccompanied Child Riders
In Japan, 6-year-old children are not only allowed to ride the train by themselves, but are eligible for a special fare. Not so in America,…
Blog
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton Orders Unionization of Child Care Providers
The NLRB’s pro-union bias and penchant for overstepping legal precedent has spread to Minnesota. Governor Mark Dayton (DFL) issued an executive order calling for…
Blog
Elites of the World, Unite! You Have Nothing to Lose!
And they are — but we have much to lose. See Iain Murray’s latest piece on the EU crisis. The intellectual temptation — the…
Daily Caller
Leaders with Ginni Thomas: Fred Smith, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Daily Caller
Bank Debit-Card Fees Under U.S. Justice Department Review
Blog
Regulation of the Day 199: How to Catch a Tuna
Authorities confiscated an otherwise legally caught bluefin tuna because it was caught with a net. The government intends to sell the fish and keep the…
Blog
Obamacare Attacks Your Flex Account — Minimize Damage in 2013 by Doubling Up for 2012
Hey Joe and Jane Citizen, concerned about the future of your country and your family. Please step away for five minutes from the nonstop TV coverage…
Blog
Middle Class in Big Trouble
A new study titled Growth in the Residential Segregation of Families by Income 1970-2009 by Stanford University researchers throws harsh light on a disturbing…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: Turkey Day Edition
As Thanksgiving quickly approaches many hosts and hostesses are scratching their heads about what drinks to pair with their meal items. The Washington Post…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 198: Talking about Water
In a ruling so dumb that only a panel of intellectuals could have written it, the EU has decided that companies may not claim…
Blog
Sen. Hagan Bill Would Expand Accelerated Drug Approval
According to Bloomberg News, North Carolina Democratic Senator Kay Hagan is set to introduce a bill that would create new “progressive”…
Blog
High-Speed Fail: Even Left-Leaning Washington Post Criticizes Obama Administration Rail Boondoggles in California and Elsewhere
Even the left-leaning Washington Post, which has not endorsed a Republican for President since 1952, is getting fed up with the Obama administration's desire to…
Blog
My Job Creation Proposal
Over at The American Spectator, I break down the debate over regulation's impact on the job market and propose one regulation that could create countless…
Letters
Coalition Letter Opposing $730,000 Conforming Loan Limits: Fannie-Freddie Subsidies for McMansions
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has signed a coalition letter with other individuals and public policy organizations opposing the expansion of government-backed mortgages for wealthy home-buyers.
Study
Green Chemistry’s March of the Ostriches
Popular myths about man-made chemicals cause lawmakers to bury their heads in the sand and support restrictive regulations that do not realistically address risks to…
Daily Caller
Letter to the Editor: Government Meddling Won’t Create Jobs
A recent op-ed in The Hill by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) (“Attacks on workers’ rights won’t create jobs,” Nov. 15) highlights the need to…
Blog
What’s in My Makeup Bag? — Junkscience
The Oregon Environmental Council and the regional government for the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area recently released a survey of young women regarding their personal…
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Supreme Court Grants Review in Case Challenging Obamacare as Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court today granted certiorari in the Obamacare cases brought by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business. The court allotted 5…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: Beer for Our Soldiers Edition
Not to overshadow the once-in-100-year numerically sequenced date, but today is also Veterans' Day. This isn't a great way to get free drinks at the bar…
Blog
2011 Federal Register Tops 70,000 Pages
The next time someone complains about America's unregulated cowboy capitalism, you should ask them where such a thing might actually be found.
Blog
A Backdoor Tax on the Poor
For some time now, the IRS has been flirting with what's called a return-free system. It's being touted as a time-saver. But it would also…
Blog
Smokers’ Opportunity to Quit Smoking Opposed by Blinkered Anti-Tobacco Zealots
As The New York Times' John Tierney notes, a tool to quit smoking and save lives is being blocked by anti-tobacco zealots: If you…
Blog
Liquor Privatization Would Edge Washington State Toward Freedom
Today voters in Washington State will finally have their say in whether or not to get the state out of the business of selling liquor.
DC Velocity
STB Decision Delaying Action on Rail Switching Leaves Shipper Group Hot Under Collar
Blog
Surface Transportation Board Rejects Misguided Push to Re-Regulate the Railroad Industry… For Now
Late last week, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) refused [PDF] to initiate a rulemaking (Ex Parte 711) proceeding that was petitioned by the shippers'…
Blog
Department of Labor Sells Out Union Members for Big Labor 1%
The Department of Labor (DOL) doesn’t need to loosen financial disclosure for union bosses to take advantage of union members’ dues. Yet, this is exactly…
DC Velocity
Michigan’s Keg Tracking Won’t Stop Underage Drinking
Few people will argue against preventing underage drinking. Michigan’s new keg registration law, however, an attempt to trace the buyers of kegs that end up…
Washington Post
A Stake in Financial Markets
Capital standards are critical to the stability of any financial system. However, whether such standards are better achieved by markets rather than political entities…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
If you're in Helena, Montana, never tie a horse to a fire hydrant. It's against the law. Plus more.
Blog
Obama Administration Contributes to Life-Threatening Drug Shortages Even as it Decries Them
In a recent column, Michelle Malkin explained how Obamacare price controls, FDA and DEA rules, and Obama administration policies have contributed to shortages of…
Bryan Triangle
Occupying the Wrong Place
Blog
CEI Podcast for November 3, 2011: Scary Makeup
Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini debunks scare stories that chemicals in makeup and other household products cause cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects, and other health problems.
Bryan Triangle
Reforming the FCC’s Regulatory Process
Blog
Wealthy Chanhassen, Minnesota, NIMBYs Oppose Retail Competition, Support Development Socialism
Reading the tired, silly claims of left-wing, anti-Wal-Mart activists generally makes me yawn. But it annoys me to see some of my former neighbors from…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: November 2, 2011
A round up of the interesting booze-related news stories from around the nation. Hint: the two best are at the end. National: Our nation’s…
Blog
Bank of America Debit Decision Doesn’t Negate Dodd-Frank’s Costs to Consumers
Bank of America and other banks are cancelling plans to impose monthly debit card fees. This was one of the ways Bank of America, as…
Blog
Regulation is this Halloween’s Goblin
Uncle Sam may be the biggest spook to business this Halloween. A new Gallup poll of small business owners shows that “complying with government regulations”…
Bryan Triangle
Get a Job!
Repeal Financial Regs Repeal portions of the Bush-era Sarbanes-Oxley Act to make it easier for smaller companies to raise capital by going public,…
Blog
Yes, Regulation Does Keep Unemployment High
Over at RealClearMarkets, my colleague Wayne Crews and I argue that the law of demand holds. Hard to believe that's actually controversial, but that's Washington…
Bryan Triangle
Regulations Are The Boot On Hiring’s Neck
Daily Caller
Regulation Is This Halloween’s Goblin
American entrepreneurs and small business owners have good reason to be scared this Halloween. According to a new Gallup poll, small business owners consider…
RealClear Markets
Yes, Regulation Does Keep Unemployment High
When regulations make hiring employees more expensive, companies won't hire as many of them. It's a simple truth. But it is an inconvenient one…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
Yet another batch of regulatory bloopers: Motorists entering Tacoma, Washington, with criminal intent are required to telephone the chief of police. It is illegal to…
Blog
Biotechnology’s 29th Anniversary!
Twenty-nine years ago tomorrow, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s and Genentech’s Humulin, making it the first ever fully…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Sarbanes-Oxley
Full Document Available in PDF Now that the Senate has defeated the so-called American Jobs Bill, which…
RealClear Markets
2012 Candidates Target Costly Enron-Era Law Aimed at Thwarting Accounting Fraud
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