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

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Do more deregulation in debt limit deal
The internal GOP debate this week is over lower-case “d” default if a June 6 deadline for an increase in the debt limit is…

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Free the Economy podcast: Transparency for government, privacy for people with Brian Hawkins
In this week’s episode we talk discuss Tim Carney’s view on why big government is good for big business, Stone Washington on the…

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Let’s get this huge ‘hidden tax’ of regulation out into the open
Smack dab in the middle of contentious debt limit negotiations, the House Budget Committee held another in its series of hearings on American economic growth,…
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Op-Eds
With Cheney, Smart Economics in Supply
Richard Cheney, George W. Bush’s choice for running mate, understands that this marvelous “new” economy we enjoy today began with the across-the-board tax-rate reductions…
Citation
Spending on Red Tape is Rising
News Release
10,000 Commandments — New Report Details REAL Cost of Government
Washington, DC, May 9, 2000 – As last minute filers rushed to finish their taxes and write their checks to the government recently, Congress…
News Release
Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee Statement on Regulatory Restructuring
Washington, DC, May 5, 2000 – The Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee concludes that the two main objectives of any restructuring of insurance regulation…
Op-Eds
Gorging on Regulations
Congress is now debating the $1.8 trillion federal budget. While federal spending consumes an awesome 18 percent of nation’s economic product, the official budget at least…
News Release
Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee issues statements on Commercial Insurance Deregulation, Workers’ Comp, and Electronic Comm
Washington, DC, April 19, 1999 – The Shadow Insurance Regulation Committee issued three statements of consensus today, concerning commercial insurance deregulation, workers’ compensation…
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