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
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…
Forbes
The Quiet Threat To Science Posed By ‘Indigenous Knowledge’
“Indigenous knowledge” is in the spotlight thanks to President Biden, who issued an executive order within days of taking office, aimed at ushering…
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Op-Eds
Tax Reform Can be Everyone’s Agenda
While the marathon presidential election in Florida grinds to a conclusion, in Washington, D.C., members of Congress returned in lame-duck session to finish up this…
Op-Eds
In Obscurity, Clinton Regime Saves Worst Regulations for Last
Americans have developed a fetish-like fixation on the “first hundred days” of incoming ‘administrations in the era of promise-us-everything politics. They use the honeymoon period…
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…
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