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

Forbes
The “Guidance Out Of Darkness Act” Is The Low-Hanging Fruit Of Regulatory Reform
We often marvel that we don’t actually know how many federal agencies exist. And the number of “commissions” and programs (many expired…

News Release
Senator Ron Johnson and 15 GOP Colleagues Introduce Guidance Out of Darkness Act in 118th Congress
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced the Guidance Out of Darkness (GOOD) Act this week, a bill aimed at bringing transparency to agency guidance documents…

Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
President Biden released a $6.8 trillion proposed budget. The labor force grew by 311,000 people in February. Meanwhile, agencies issued new regulations ranging…
Search Posts
News Release
Little-Known Regulations Contribute to Cost of Government
Washington, DC, June 19, 2001 — Many American know that they must work, on average, from January 1 to May 3 (Tax Freedom…
News Release
Benefits of Moderate Alcohol Consumption to Get Their Day in Court
Washington, DC, June 11, 2001— The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Consumer Alert will present their case for freedom of speech in alcohol labels…
News Release
Statement from CEI President Fred Smith Regarding New CBO Report on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Washington, DC, May 23, 2001 – The latest figures from the Congressional Budget Office indicating that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac receive more than $10…
News Release
Washington’s 10,000 Commandments Place Heavy Burden on American Families
Washington, DC, May 21, 2001 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released the study 10,000 Commandments: An Annual Policy Maker’s Snapshot of the…
News Release
Public Interest Group Criticizes Attack on OMB Nominee
Washington, D.C., March 13, 2001—The Competitive Enterprise Institute is accusing critics of the Administration’s new Office of Management and Budget nominee, John D.
Op-Eds
Tax Cut Fast Track
Virtually everyone agrees that George W. Bush confronts a rapidly weakening economy as he assumes the presi- dency. Cutting marginal tax rates was at the top…
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