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.
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Free the Economy podcast: Enduring policy principles with Richard Stern
In this week’s episode we cover housing affordability, labor unions and train safety, the late Paul Ehrlich (1932-2026), and the late…
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Idaho’s successful regulatory reform
Over at National Review, my colleague Hayden Stolzenberg and I examine some of Idaho’s recent regulatory reforms, as outlined in a recent CEI paper.
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The missing guardrail in crisis politics: Discipline
Modern American governance has developed a troubling pattern. Economic shocks like the 21st century’s financial panics and pandemic are often met with vast expansions of…
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Op-Eds
Reid May Lead on Stock Options
In the discussion of winners and losers from Election 2004, one organization that may have suffered a big blow has been overlooked. This…
News Release
FCC to Reconsider Telephone Competition
Contact for Interviews: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> <?xml:namespace prefix…
Op-Eds
It’s the Infrastructure, Stupid: Amtrak, derailed
The news that the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General is deeply concerned about the dangerous state of Amtrak’s railroad infrastructure should come as…
News Release
The Battle over Interstate Wine Shipments
Full complaint available as a pdf. The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in the case of…
News Release
Bracing for e-prohibition on wine?
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Contact for interviews: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Richard Morrison,…
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Will Reid Lead On Stock Option?
In the discussion of winner sand losers from Election 2004, one organization that may have suffered a big blow has been…
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
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Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
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- Banking and Finance
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment