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
This week in ridiculous regulations: airline fees and greenhouse gas reporting
The Federal Register grew at nearly triple its usual pace last week. It is on pace for its first-ever 100,000-page year. GDP growth slowed to…
The Center Square
Study: Mixed record on permitting reform offers some hope
CEI’s James Broughel provided comments to The Center Square about a study he authored: “Pennsylvania’s a state where energy is very important to its…
Forbes
Libertarian Victory: You Mean We Can Shut Down Government Without Even Passing A Law?
It is happening again. Congress will enact another bloated, pork-laden and largely unread omnibus spending bill to complete formal appropriations for the 2024 fiscal year…
Search Posts
The Hill
The Risks And Rewards Of This Conservative Supreme Court
The Hill cited CEI on Herman Gundy v. United States case. Many of these future challenges would be motivated, at least in part,…
LifeZette
Trump Urged To Expose Bureaucrats’ ‘Regulatory Dark Matter’
LifeZette cited CEI’s Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow Clyde Wayne Crews on regulatory dark matter. President Donald Trump has slashed a…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In the news last week, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) got a new name (USMCA) that nobody will use, and President Trump…
Government Executive
Trump Deregulatory Effort May Just Be Getting Started
Government Executive cited CEI’s Vice President for Policy Clyde Wayne Crews on Trump administration deregulation. The topic is of great interest to the conservative…
Credit Union National Association
CUNA’s Nussle, Schenk Talk CU Regulatory Climate At CEI
Credit Union National Association cited CEI from CUNA event. CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle and Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer for Policy Analysis Mike Schenk…
The Lane Report
Perspective | New Cars, Cleaner Air
The Lane Report cited CEI on CAFE standards. The Department of Transportation finds that the best way to achieve cleaner air is when…
News Release
CEI Report Calls for Executive Order to Shine Light on Guidance Documents and Other “Regulatory Dark Matter”
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report today, calling on the White House to issue a new executive order to highlight and strengthen…
Study
A Partial Eclipse of the Administrative State
Deterioration of checks and balances via regulatory overreach and over-delegation by Congress to agencies are central to most modern critiques of the administrative state. Less…
Yogonet
The American Gaming Association Testifies On US Sports Betting
Yogonet cited CEI on sports betting regulations. The American Gaming Association (AGA) today informed the House representatives that “no additional federal engagement…
Stiffs and Georges
Federal Sports-Betting Regulation Bombs
Stiffs and Georges cited CEI on sports betting regulations. At least one woman was treated with respect yesterday on Capitol Hill and that was the American Gaming…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a busy week in the political world, from the bitter Supreme Court controversy to President Trump’s UN speech, to tariffs on $260…
Small Business Trends
NLRB Proposes Rule Change To Restore Joint Employer Standard
Small Business Trends cited CEI’s Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on NLRB proposed rule change. Labor policy analyst Trey Kovacs of The Competitive Enterprise…
Reason
New FAA Reauthorization Bill Tackles Seat Size, Supersonic Jets
Reason cited CEI’s Senior Fellow Marc Scribner on Congress aviation reform. “From our perspective, this is the most forward-leaning language from Congress on…
Citation
CEI Commends House for Passage of GOOD Act to Rein in Regulatory Overreach
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) commends the U.S. House of Representatives and Congressman Mark Walker for passage of the Guidance Out Of Darkness (GOOD) Act,…
Multichannel News
FCC Approves 5G Rollout-Related Reforms
Multichannel News cited CEI on FCC 5G reforms. “The FCC’s plan to cut red tape is a step in the right direction for…
Foreign Affairs
MIL-OSI USA: The House Passes Walker’s GOOD Act To Help NC Employers And Force Federal Agencies To Make Regulatory Guidance Transparent
Foreign Affairs cited CEI’s Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow Clyde Wane Crews on the GOOD Act. The GOOD Act has received praise from Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Hurricane Florence, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault allegation, and a ten percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods dominated the news. Meanwhile,…
Forbes
The Rules for Rulemaking: a Cheat-Sheet Glossary of the Administrative State
The following chronological overview of America's regulatory oversight regime emerged from noticing the many categories of rules and regulations in play in the insiders' game…
The Washington Times
Eliminating ‘Most Problematic’ Federal Regulations Saves Taxpayers $1.3 Billion This Year
The Washington Times cited CEI’s Vice President Clyde Wayne Crews on Trump’s federal regulation savings. Clyde Wayne Crews, vice president for policy at…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a slow week for substantive news, aside from President Trump’s surprise signing of the Miscellaneous Tariff Act, which reduces tariffs on about 1,700…
Blog
The Financial Crisis 10 Years Later: What’s Changed?
Ten years ago, the United States plunged into a financial crisis that would bring the world economy to the brink of collapse. The housing bubble…
Boston Herald
Concorde could fly again as Congress targets supersonic ban
Boston Herald cited CEI on an upcoming Senate supersonic aviation provisions bill. “Fortunately, R&D has continued despite the ban, and recent technological breakthroughs in manufacturing and…
Forbes
A Trump Executive Order on Regulatory Guidance Documents Can Pick up the Ball Congress Dropped
Reform of so-called guidance documents or policy statements seeped into the broader regulatory reform debate in a number of ways, such as their incorporation into…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
After a short Labor Day breather, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings and White House intrigue made for a lively four-day week. Meanwhile, agencies issued…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
August ended with a bang, leaving the 2018 Federal Register on the brink of the 45,000-page mark going into the Labor Day holiday. Agencies passed…
Blog
How Free Is Your State?
Our friends at the Cato Institute have a great new promotional video for the latest edition of their annual Freedom in the 50…
Op-Eds
The Costs Of Federal Agency Expertise
Whether the matter at hand is health, safety, economic or technology policy regulation, federal intervention is legitimized on the basis of presumed impartial expertise of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Lawyers are having a field day in Washington, and not just in cases involving associates of a certain member of the executive branch. Over at…
Forbes
What Is The Effect Of Federal Regulation On Jobs?
A time of record employment is a perfect opportunity to reflect upon the conditions that enable it (suspicion of official employment statistics notwithstanding). How do you keep letting…
Blog
Federal Regulatory Cost Disclosure Reports Latest Ever
Why does it need to be such a headache to get timely reports on the costs and benefits of federal regulation? Government spends and it regulates.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a slow news week on the policy front, though quite busy on the drama/soap opera front. The House was in recess, and while…
Blog
Hernando de Soto: How To Make the Third World Richer than the First
Our good friend Nick Gillespie interviews Peruvian economist and property rights activist Hernando de Soto about the future of prosperity in the developing world, and…
Investor's Business Daily
Deregulation Nation: President Trump Cuts Regulations at Record Rate
Investor’s Business Daily cited Senior Fellow Clyde Wayne Crews on Ten Thousand Commandments. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute noted earlier this year…
The Washington Post
Has the Trump Administration Repealed 22 Regulations for Each New One?
The Washington Post Fact Checker cited Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow Clyde Wayne Crews on regulatory reform. Clyde Wayne Crews of the…
Forbes
Are Entrepreneurs Creating the Growing Economy, or is the Growing Economy Enabling Entrepreneurs?
It is taken as given that taxation and regulation affect business startups and job creation. However, the many metrics seeking to explain governmental policies' effects…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations for the year passed the 2,000 mark, with new rules ranging from cell walls to harpoon fishing.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The big regulatory news is a proposed loosening of fuel economy standards for cars. This will likely improve safety; lighter cars don’t hold up…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The economy grew by 4.1 percent last quarter, which is wonderful news. The president also announced $12 billion of subsides for farmers hurt…
Op-Eds
Are Entrepreneurs Creating The Growing Economy, Or Is The Growing Economy Enabling Entrepreneurs?
It is taken as given that taxation and regulation affect business startups and job creation. However the many metrics seeking to explain governmental policies' effects on entrepreneurship probably…
Forbes
Trump’s 2018 Regulatory Reform Agenda by the Numbers
The Trump administration has released the new Spring 2018 edition of the twice-yearly Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.
Forbes
Should Congress be Repealing Agency Rules that are Already Invalid?
The Senate has voted to repeal a 2013 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulatory guidance document that took the form of a “bulletin” on “Indirect…
Forbes
An Inventory of Federal Agency Guidance Documents
Is that an exciting click-bait title or what? It gets even better though. Federal regulations’ hundreds of billions in costs and burdens are a familiar…
Blog
Driving Innovation: Timbro Index Charts Scope of Global Sharing Economy
The Swedish think tank Timbro has published the first global index of the sharing economy. The Timbro Sharing Economy Index (TSEI) is the…
Blog
White House Budget Director Mulvaney Speaks at CEI Annual Dinner
Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, delivered the keynote address at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Annual Dinner and…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The European Union fined Google a record $5 billion for antitrust violations, and the president raised foreign policy kerfuffles with Britain and Russia on…
Blog
Kent Lassman at the Independence Institute: Deregulation in the Trump Administration
The Competitive Enterprise Institute staff often travel to bring the good news of regulatory reform to friends, allies, and interested audiences all across the country, and…
News Release
House Bipartisan JOBS Act 3.0 Act Will Cut Red Tape for Investors, Small Companies
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will likely pass by a substantial margin a legislative package — backed by both House Financial Services Committee Chairman…
Comment
CEI Comments on the Regulation of Flavors in Tobacco Products
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) welcomes the opportunity to offer comments regarding the regulation of flavors in tobacco products.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was an uneventful week at regulatory agencies, with a lower-than-usual 51 new final regulations, ranging from skin disability ratings to garage door openers. For more data,…
Blog
Britain’s Brexit Challenge Gets Harder—and It’s Britain’s Fault
Leaving a regional trade bloc is much more difficult than entering it, as the United Kingdom is finding out. The European Union has integrated itself…
Forbes
Born Or Made? Personal Characteristics that Influence Entrepreneurship
Regulation is one of the more important influences on entrepreneurship around the world, and modern scholars have explored what the see as key conceptual and…
Bloomberg
VIDEO: Ryan Radia Discusses the Supreme Court and the Regulatory State on Bloomberg
Ryan Radia, Research Fellow and Regulatory Counsel at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined Bloomberg Markets to discuss the Supreme Court's impact on the regulatory state.
Compliance Week
Counterpoint: Chevron Case Creates Imbalance
The famous passage from James Madison in the Federalist Papers, Essay 51—“If men were angels, no government would be necessary”—reveals where the problems lie with…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
America celebrated its 242nd birthday on Wednesday, and new tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods came into effect on Friday. Meanwhile, during a…
Forbes
Americans Celebrate July 4th — But Can They Celebrate Independence?
News reports on Fourth of July polling pointedly distinguish between “proud to be an American” and “proud of America now,” in a way less apparent…
Forbes
What do Scholars Say About the Empirical Relationships Between Regulation and Entrepreneurship?
In the Fraser Institute’s new volume Demographics and Entrepreneurship: Mitigating the Effects of an Aging Population, chapter authors observe that the more red tape and…
Forbes
What Do Scholars Say About The Conceptual Relationship Between Regulation And Entrepreneurship?
We know that “Institutions Matter” when it comes to governance and prosperity. They have to, because the phrase returns over 200,000 Google search results.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It was a newsy week, with Justice Kennedy’s retirement announcement, along with some big Supreme Court decisions, including the Janus decision regarding public sector unions;…
Blog
Remarks by CEI President Kent Lassman at 2018 Annual Dinner
Remarks by CEI President Kent Lassman at our Annual Dinner and Reception on June 28, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Welcome to the CEI annual dinner. Thank you all for…
The Wall Street Journal
The Dishwasher Rebellion
The Wall Street Journal cited CEI’s on the dishwasher rebellion. The digital revolution relentlessly enables consumer products to become better, faster and cheaper.
Forbes
Pinpointing The Role Of Economic Liberty In Inspiring Global Entrepreneurship
It is hard to start a business that works. Most people do not attempt it. The reasons are complex, but the World Bank’s Doing Business…
Forbes
Trump’s Executive Branch Restructuring: What If The Federal Government Is Beyond Streamlining?
Can the federal government shrink? Or is the situation like the waistlines that paradoxically parallel the growth of the diet and fitness industry?…
The Washington Examiner
Judge Protects Us from ‘Protection’ Bureau
As the Senate prepares for what should be a contentious confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Summer officially began last week, and federal regulators celebrated with new regulations ranging from almond kernel computing to rough diamonds.
News Release
CEI on The White House Plan to Reform and Reorganize Regulatory Agencies
Today, the White House released its much-anticipated plan for reorganizing federal government agencies. Competitive Enterprise Institute policy experts praised some of the reforms but pointed…
Forbes
What Key Factors Influence Entrepreneurship and Business Growth? Ideas for Researchers
If getting things done requires too many steps, there will be fewer entrepreneurs. That seems to be something of a consensus in the economics and social…
Comment
CEI Comments on the CFPB’s Request for Information Regarding Adopted Regulations and New Rulemaking Authorities
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we are pleased to provide the following comments on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s (Bureau or…
Blog
Last Chance for the 115th: Options for Regulatory Reform
With a possible party change in play this November in one or both chambers of Congress, the time might be now or never to pass…
News Release
CEI Urges Senate To Press CFPB Nominee on Stopping Regulatory Abuse
Over the past weekend, President Trump nominated Kathy Kraninger, an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget, to head the Bureau of Consumer…
Blog
Minimum Wage Proposal Divides D.C. Workers, Voters
Washington, D.C. has a $12.50 per hour minimum wage. But for tip-earning workers, such as servers and bartenders, the minimum is $3.33 per hour—tips are…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Angry allies, North Korea, and Chinese tariffs dominated the news last week. Under the radar, regulatory agencies closed in on their 1,500th new regulation of…
Townhall
Reduce, Freeze or Eliminate CAFE Fuel Standards
Townhall cited Sam Kazman on the contribution to casualty rates stemming from automobile related accidents that CAFÉ rules propagate. Even with side air…
Blog
Good News for Young Lemonade Stand Entrepreneurs
Every summer there are news stories about local authorities shutting down children’s lemonade stands over lack of licenses, permits, a lack of restaurant-grade kitchen or…
Forbes
What the AT&T-Time Warner Merger Decision Means for U.S. Regulation
President Donald Trump's moves to streamline federal regulation and unleash infrastructure have in some ways been unprecedented. But some developments could undermine or swamp the…
Blog
Putting the Net Neutrality Scare Stories to Rest
Today is the first day of the Internet operating under the Federal Communications Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order (RIFO), which was adopted last December but is…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The week’s big headlines were about the G7 meeting and our allies’ efforts to avoid a trade war, and the meeting with north Korea…
The Washington Times
Regulatory Memorial Madness: Every 3 Hours, a New Rule
The Washington Times cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the tremendous amounts of rules and regulations unleashed by Congress and federal agencies. Congress…
The Daily Caller
It’s Been One Year Since Trump Promised To Leave The Paris Climate Accord
The Daily Caller cited Myron Ebell on the paradigm shift that has occurred with federal acceptance of affordable energy since the advent of the Trump…
USA Today
Reported Federal Funding For Climate Change Programs Is Incomplete, Says Watchdog
USA Today cited Myron Ebell on the financial benefits that will come because of deregulation by the Trump administration of Obama-era regulations and the benefits…
The Washington Times
Freezing the Paris Climate Accord is a job for the Senate
The Washington Times published an article written by Marlo Lewis reviewing the future of American energy independence and the shackling of the American economy under…
Forbes
Louder Applause + Less Regulation = Greater Entrepreneurship
Unleashing entrepreneurship is a global imperative, evidenced by worldwide governmental passion for classifying and measuring entrepreneurship, such as the World Bank's Doing Businessreport series, and by…
Blog
Here We Go Again: Steel and Aluminum Tariffs and Peter Navarro
A new 25 percent steel tariff and a 10 percent aluminum tariff have come into effect. The levies are aimed at our allies, such as Canada,…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Despite a four-day workweek, federal agencies still exceeded the previous week’s Federal Register page count by nearly a hundred pages, pushing the yearly total past…
The Washington Post
Trump’s Orders Show Unwavering Attack on Federal Unions, Employees
The Washington Post cited Ian Murray on the sweeping reform occurring throughout the federal government since the Trump administration instituted new procedures through which federal…
Federal Times
Official time use: vital for feds or a waste of time?
Federal Times cited Trey Kovacs on the negative impact which official time imposes on dispute resolution in the bargaining process. Federal employee use of…
The Daily Caller
Facebook And Google Accused Of Violating Europe’s New Law On The First Day
The Daily Caller cited Ryan Radia on the impact of GDPR in enabling favorable market conditions to the dismay of small businesses. “The…
The New York Times
Trump Moves to Ease the Firing of Federal Workers
The New York Times cited Kent Lassman on the conditions which have ensued where workplace equity has increased following changes to federal regulation set in…
News Release
CEI Announces 2018 Annual Dinner Keynote: OMB Director Mick Mulvaney
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) announced that White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will keynote its 2018 Annual Dinner and Reception on June 28…
Daily Mail
Heightened Debate in US as EU Privacy Rules Take Effect
DailyMail cited Ryan Radia on the market conditions generated by GDPR likely favoring large business to the dismay of start-ups and small firms.
The Hill
‘Right to Try’ Is a Win for Patient Rights and President Trump
The Hill cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the overwhelming cost of compliance which taxes the American economy and in this case limits pharmaceutical ingenuity…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
Agencies took it comparatively easy in the leadup to the long Memorial Day weekend, though the FAA and Coats Guard were busy with rules for…
News Release
Trump Executive Orders on Civil Service Reform Are a Huge Win for Taxpayers, Workplace Equity
On news today that President Trump signed three executive orders aimed at making federal workers more accountable and better-performing, Competitive Enterprise Institute experts praised the…
The Wall Street Journal
Trump, the Six Billion Dollar Man*
The Wall Street Journal cited CEI’s Clyde Wayne Crews regarding the Trump administration’s regulatory reform efforts. History shows that when a new President…
The Washington Times
Republicans Giving the Boot to Obama’s Onerous Regulations
The Washington Times cited the Clyde Wayne Crews on the overextension of government regulation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s findings of the extreme cost of…
The New York Times
Congress Approves First Big Dodd-Frank Rollback
The New York Times cited CEI’s John Berlau on the limitations of current deregulatory reforms in disassembling the Dodd-Frank Act, which burdens consumers, investors, and…
Op-Eds
Do-er/Thinker Alliances: How Capitalists Can Defend Capitalism
The Fraser Institute of Canada just released a new book called Demographics and Entrepreneurship: Mitigating the Effects of an Aging Population. The book contains a series of 10…
InsideSources
Government Report Breaks Down Taxpayer Funded Union Hours
InsideSources cited Trey Kovacs on the irony and need for getting rid of “official time” where union officials are paid with tax-payer dollars while conducting…
Reason
Congress Just Voted to Repeal a Few Bits of Dodd-Frank
Reason cited John Berlau on the boon to small banks in being able to provide financial relief to Americans that is occuring with deregulation of…
Blog
Trump Maintains a One-In, Five-Out Pace for Rules and Regulations
How many deregulatory actions have been taken so far in the Trump administration? Along with 16 congressional “resolutions of disapproval” of existing Obama-era regulations—another…
Blog
Federal Deregulation Can Exceed What Gets Reported in Unified Agenda
In tracking the Trump administration’s regulatory vs. deregulatory actions, there can be discrepancy between the official Unified Agenda compilation (the tally that’s been around…
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