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: Consumer protection and free speech with Casey Mattox
In this week’s episode we cover the debt load of state and local governments, advances in nuclear waste storage, and hope…
News Release
Update in CEI’s case against Wisconsin’s unconstitutional rule barring voter participation in prediction markets
Yesterday, a District Court denied CEI’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Wisconsin’s rule denying voters the right to participate in election prediction market…
Blog
The regulatory dark matter beyond Washington’s graveyard of rules: 83,141 ghosts and counting
The clocks have turned back, the days are growing darker, and Washington’s regulatory shadows lengthen. Washington’s policy ghouls are waking up to the fact…
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CEI Podcast – September 23, 2010: The Frankenfish Myth
CEI Senior Fellow Greg Conko, author of The Frankenfood Myth, talks about the promise and imagined peril of genetically modified salmon.
Blog
GOP “Pledge to America” Includes Constructive Reg Reform
The House Republican “Pledge to America” unveiled today has been criticized by RedState’s Erick Erickson and other center-right pundits for a lack of specifics.
Blog
Obama Financial Czar Appointment Is Unconstitutional, Liberal Law Professor Says
Obama has appointed controversial Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren to informally run the powerful, newly-created Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that will regulate the…
Blog
Many Free Checking Accounts Disappearing Due to Dodd-Frank Financial “Reform” Law
The so-called financial “reform” bill that passed Congress — the Dodd-Frank Act — is wiping out many free checking accounts, since…
Blog
Unfair ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ Shafts Workers With Hazardous Jobs
We wrote earlier about the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill of Orwellian deception that would result in employees unfairly receiving equal pay…
Blog
Study: Regulations Cost $1.75 Trillion in 2008
State and local regulations, of course, cost extra.
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- 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