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
The week in regulations: Library pictures and aerobatic airplanes
The Iran war entered its fourth week. ICE agents might be reassigned to airport security. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. President Trump expressed…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Enduring policy principles with Richard Stern
In this week’s episode we cover housing affordability, labor unions and train safety, the late Paul Ehrlich (1932-2026), and the late…
Blog
Idaho’s successful regulatory reform
Over at National Review, my colleague Hayden Stolzenberg and I examine some of Idaho’s recent regulatory reforms, as outlined in a recent CEI paper.
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Citation
The Benefits of Deregulation in the Railroad Industry
National Association of Manufacturers
Obama and the Keynesian Revival
The National Association of Manufacturers discusses Iain Murray's National Review article on Obama's Keyenesian revival. Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute makes…
Newsletter
Union Scandal in California, Alternative Energy Promises and Short-Selling on Wall Street
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) finalizes a controversial merger of its California locals into one state-wide “superlocal”. President-Elect Obama promises to double the nation’s…
CNS News
Economists Say Bush ‘Chucked’ Free Market Principles Long Before Financial Crisis
CNS News discusses President George W. Bush's move away from free market principles. However, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told CNSNews.com that…
Cafe Hayek
Tranquilizing the Stimulators
Blog
Ecuador’s Mining Law and the 70% WFT
Ecuador, the only Latin American country that lacks large-scale mining operations, is passing a new mining law that will lift a six-month ban on mining…
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