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
Free the Economy podcast: Sesquicentennial celebration
In this week’s episode we celebrate the show’s sesquicentennial anniversary – that is, our 150th episode. We look back at the dozens of smart,…
Blog
Shutdown lesson: Depend less on DC
The record-length shutdown showed how dependent many Americans are on Washington. This is one of the biggest flaws in the ongoing nationalization of politics. In…
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The week in regulations, the final shutdown edition: Manifest mailing and broken trash incinerators
The federal shutdown is over. Since the Federal Register has a few days’ lag time for publishing agency documents, it will likely take until this…
Search Posts
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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…
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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,…
Citation
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…
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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…
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Regulation Roundup
A local ordinance in Suffolk, Virginia prohibits driving motorized vehicles under their own power within city limits, plus more.
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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…
Op-Eds
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…
Op-Eds
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…
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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…
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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…
Op-Eds
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…
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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.
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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…
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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)…
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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…
Citation
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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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