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…
Search Posts
Op-Eds
Obama’s Anti-Jobs Agenda
Though President Obama is nowhere to be seen on ground-level job-creation efforts apart from the golf course, he did issue an early 2011 executive order…
News Release
Zero August Job Growth Reflects Anti-Business, Red Tape Climate in Washington
Washington, D.C., September 2, 2011 — Today’s job numbers from the US Department of Labor are downright dismal: the economy failed to add new…
Blog
CEI Podcast for September 1, 2011: The Blocked AT&T-T-Mobile Merger
The Department of Justice sued this week to stop the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile merger. Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia thinks this is a mistake.
Blog
The DOJ’s Antitrust Seers
The philosopher Yogi Berra once said that “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Let’s apply his lesson to the proposed $39 billion…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 196: Babysitting
This bill will result in a lot of unhappy nights at home for frustrated parents – and a lot less income for sitters who have…
Blog
NLRB’s Pro-Big Labor Ruling Trifecta is Bad News for the Economy
Earlier this year, President Obama proudly touted his executive order calling for federal agencies to review regulations on their books and identify obsolete rules for…
Blog
Despite D.C. Legalization of Online Poker, Players Leave USA
It is perhaps a little ironic that the most vocal opponents of online poker will soon be the only people in the USA who can…
Blog
Many New Job-Killing Regulations from the Obama Administration
Andrew Stiles describes "Ten Job-Destroying Regulations" from the Obama administration that will wipe out hundreds of thousands of jobs. Another job-killing regulation is the…
Blog
Welch vs. Lee: What About Freight?
Libertarian urbanist -- call him a "market urbanist" -- Timothy B. Lee recently had an article at Forbes.com in which he criticized Matt Welch…
Blog
Infrastructure Pork versus Infrastructure Investment: In Washington, There is No Difference
The labor theory of value still survives -- at least in politics. Both Democrats and Republicans still believe that "government must create jobs," and if…
Washington Times
Obama’s Proposed Regs Would Cost Billions Annually
Washington Times highlights Wayne Crews's study on the federal regulatory burden. And a study by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think…
Blog
More Barriers to Job Creation from Obama Administration: Employers Must Hire Alcoholics as Truck Drivers Despite Liability Risk
The president is full of hollow rhetoric about creating jobs, even though his stimulus package destroyed jobs in our export sector and…
Blog
AT&T-T-Mobile Merger Delayed
A few months ago, the FCC said it would hand down a decision on whether to allow AT&T and T-Mobile to merge within 180 days.
Washington Times
Do We Really Need a National Weather Service?
As Hurricane Irene bears down on the East Coast, news stations bombard our televisions with constant updates from the National Hurricane Center. While Americans ought…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
Some of the stranger rules I've dug recently:…
Blog
The Texas Empire Strikes Back
Well, I made a prediction here yesterday: It will be interesting to see how those in Congress who have been demanding…
Blog
Who’s Afraid of Snuggles the Bear?
As the East Coast braces to be pummeled by Hurricane Irene, a new study in the Journal Air Quality and Atmosphere…
Blog
NLRB to Businesses: Tell Employees they Can Unionize
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a new rule “requiring most private-sector employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor…
Washington Times
Bureaucrats Have Gone Rogue
G.O.P. presidential candidates should emphasize that reining in the E.P.A. is a constitutional imperative. Yes, Americans are worried about jobs and the economy, but arguing…
Washington Times
Rekindling the Dream
Martin Luther King Jr. is now memorialized with an imposing statue on the D.C. National Mall. While the honor is long overdue, his legacy should…
Blog
Eminent Domain, Rick Perry, and the Trans-Texas Corridor
Attorney Alan Ackerman has a post up highlighting and commenting on an article that argues that critics of Texas Governor Rick Perry from the right…
News Release
Obama’s Deregulation Initiative Falls Short of Substantive Reform
Washington, D.C., August 24, 2011—President Obama announced that independent agencies will wipe as many as 500 rules from the books in the coming months.
Blog
FCC Repeals 83 Regulations
The repeals will become official upon publication in the Federal Register.
Blog
More Bailouts, Urge Left-Leaning Journalists
Left-leaning journalists are urging more mortgage bailouts to try to increase consumer spending, since they erroneously think that inadequate consumer spending is the principal cause…
Yahoo News
The Alarming Cost Of Climate Change Hysteria
Yahoo News discusses an estimate of the costs of federal regulations from Wayne Crews's study. The Small Business Administration estimates that compliance with…
Blog
Deregulate the Practice of Law to Promote Justice and Create Jobs
It's time to deregulate the practice of law, write Clifford Winston and Robert W. Crandall of the Brookings Institution in The Wall Street…
Blog
A Letter to the Editor about Natural Rights and the Cuban Economy
In an editorial last week Mary Anastasia O’Grady wrote about a supposed “economic revolution” happening in Cuba. It seems the Cuban government has just liberated…
Business Insider
$38 Billion-Worth Of Red Tape Choking Businesses
Business Insider mentions Wayne Crews's study on the size of the federal regulatory burden. U.S. businesses continue to deal with the unintended consequences…
Blog
Lemonade Freedom Day Is Tomorrow
Tomorrow, parents and children across the country will set up lemonade stands in their neighborhoods. And they’re going to do it without getting licensed, inspected,…
Blog
Regulation Roundup
In Delaware, it is a felony to wear a disguise while committing a felony, plus more.
Business Insider
Forget Corporate Jets. Government Limousines Show They’re Stealing You Blind
President Obama has made a big deal out of corporate jets. Apparently they are a symbol not of success but of greed. Yet even…
Wall Street Pit
Is Business Choking on Red Tape?
The Wall Street Pit discusses Wayne Crews's report on the size of the federal regualtory burden. U.S. businesses continue to deal with the…
Blog
“Rules are Rules,” When it Comes to Yard Sales
The City of Salem, Oregon, is cracking down on yard sales — even if they are a citizen’s last option to pay for expensive…
The Future of Freedom Foundation
O’er the Land of the 39 Percent Free
Blog
Regulation of the Day 195: Fitted Sheets
California’s state legislature is poised to pass SB 432. It would, of all things, make it a crime for hotels to use non-fitted sheets.
The Future of Freedom Foundation
Let’s Put a Stop to the War on Salt
First Lady Michelle Obama has been lobbying strongly this year for food manufacturers to reduce the sodium content of their products. Her efforts scored a…
OA Online
Mileage Standards Will Decrease Safety
Blog
Obama Ignores even Internal Dissent on Environmentalist Agenda
President Obama will stop at nothing to pursue his war on coal. He won’t even listen to those within his own administration. His…
Blog
EPA-Backed Study: Products Containing BPA Harmless
The US Environmental Protection Agency officially backed a study last week underscores what scientists around the world have been saying for years: BPA is not…
Blog
Alcohol Regulatory Round-up: August 11th 2011
Federal: A proposed bill, Brewer's Employment and Excise Relief Act, would reduce the federal excise taxes for craft brewers in order to help them…
OA Online
Finally Free from Government Servitude
All that business last month about July 4 being In- dependence Day was a temporary indulgence by those Founding Father guys. Hope you enjoyed the…
OA Online
Europe’s Shorts-Sightedness
This week, troubles in Europe may have played as much of a role in the U.S. stock market carnage and volatility as the downgrade of…
Reason
What Would You Do to Improve Job Growth?
Study
Stealing You Blind
Remember when we used to call government employees “public servants”? They’re servants no more—now they’re bureaucratic masters of the universe, claiming inflated salaries and early…
Blog
The War on Lemonade
Besides today's CEI Podcast, Iain Murray and I have a column over at Townhall.com about Lemonade Freedom Day:…
Blog
CEI Podcast for August 11, 2011: Lemonade Freedom Day
Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray talks about the rash of children's lemonade stands being shut down by police, and his plans to celebrate Lemonade…
Blog
Massachusetts Reverses “Buy Local” Mandate for Brewers
Public Outcry Forces Rule Reversal for Massachusetts Craft Brewers Despite the recession, one segment of the US market, at least, has been steadily growing. This…
Blog
Just in time for the Debt Super Committee–the new Hello Kitty Federal Budget Calculator
The Hello Kitty Federal Budget Calculator is here to ease tension created by hostile political climate in the wake of the debt-ceiling-increase debates. Yesterday,…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 194: Facebook Friends
Missouri has a new law that bans teachers from becoming Facebook friends with any current or former student. The goal is to prevent inappropriate…
Blog
Weird Healthcare Regulation of the Day: No Coverage for Men With Breast Cancer
"Disease does not discriminate, but apparently Medicaid coverage does. A 26-year-old South Carolina tile-layer has found himself with breast cancer and out of luck for…
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