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
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…
Blog
CEI briefs the public on the need for administrative law court reform
The Competitive Enterprise Institute recently hosted our first Capitol Hill event of the year, urging Congress to propose administrative law court (ALC) reform. Our…
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Abolish Federal Pension Guarantee
Just as the squeaky wheel gets the grease, a government program gets Congress’ attention by going deep in the red. And the Pension Benefit Guaranty…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Dispatch
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Microsoft and the EU Competition Commission have apparently reached an agreement over the Commission’s 2004…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. PRIVACY United Parcel Service loses computer tapes containing financial records for 3.9 million Citigroup Inc. customers. From CEI: Vice President…
Study
The Revolution Spins toward More Regulation
Full document available in pdf format. …
Op-Eds
Greens Are the Real Energy Problem, by Steven J. Milloy
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> It goes without saying that the global economy depends on the availability of…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ANTITRUST Microsoft submits its final proposal for complying with the latest order by the…
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