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: Carbon nanotubes and colored sausage casings
President Trump enacted new tariffs against more than 60 countries. Some of the Canada tariffs invoke a never-used statute from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff…
Blog
Evaluating DOGE nearly halfway through Trump’s second term
One week after his victory in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump announced that he would create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)…
Blog
Don’t expect the administrative state to disarm itself
Last week, I read two articles in the summer 2026 edition of the Cato Institute’s Regulation magazine: “Defanging the FCC” by Paul Matzko…
Search Posts
Op-Eds
Reform FCC—Limit It!
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />U.S. communications policy is at an important inflection point. Cable, telephone and wireless companies aim to…
News Release
Moment of Truth Approaches for Free Trade
Contact for Interviews: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> …
News Release
A New Hope for Free Markets in Telecom
Contact: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 Washington, D.C., July 27, 2005—Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) this morning announced wide-ranging legislation that would modernize U.S. telecommunications law…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TELECOM Senator John Ensign (R-NV) introduces major new legislation aimed at overhauling telecommunications law. CEI…
News Release
Final Energy Bill: Too Much Pork, Not Enough Energy
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Washington, D.C., July 26, 2005—More…
News Release
CEI Policy Analyst to Argue for Regulatory Reform
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> <?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml” /> Contact: …
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