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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Ten Thousand Commandments 2025 is out now
The 2025 edition of CEI’s flagship report, Ten Thousand Commandments, is out today. For more than 30 years, my colleague Wayne Crews has been…

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Free the Economy podcast: Reforming Washington’s 10,000 Commandments with Wayne Crews
In this week’s episode we cover the political roots of totalitarianism, why we should put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out to…

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Ten Thousand Commandments 2025
Introduction Record federal debt is contributing to record-setting regulatory burdens. While new spending programs show up in budget figures, new regulations requiring the private sector…
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So, What Will This Unfunded Mandate Cost Me?
View Full Document as PDF The $1.77 trillion spending budget President Clinton sent to Congress February 2 tells just part of…
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What A Congress
As1998 draws to a close, it’s appropriate to look back at the most significant deregulatory successes that have been achieved during the year. Where should…
Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey
Wealthier is Healthier
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ATF Documents Reveal Ban on Protected Speech
We have previously reported on CEI’s pending lawsuit with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) challenging the constitutionality of the agency’s ban…
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Rethinking Insurance Regulation–1998
NATURAL DISASTERS AND CATASTROPHIC…
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A Disaster Waiting to Happen: Why Washington Shouldn’t Subsidize Disaster Insurance
This Thursday, April 23, the House Banking and Financial Services Committee will examine H.R. 219, the Homeowners Insurance Availability Act sponsored by Rep. Rick…
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