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
News Release
CEI study: Congress should establish limits on regulatory power to ensure agencies are not answering major policy questions
Many of the biggest policy decisions affecting the lives of Americans are made by federal agencies, not Congress. According to a new report from…
Study
Congress, Not Agencies, Should Answer Major Policy Questions
Many of the biggest policy decisions affecting the lives of Americans are made by federal agencies, not Congress. During the Biden administration, this has included…
Blog
Congress should heed GAO’s new regulatory reform recommendations
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a December 2023 report titled “Options for Enhancing Congressional Oversight of Rulemaking and Establishing an Office of Legal…
Search Posts
Daily Caller
Economy Hit With Hidden $1.9 Trillion Tax From Federal Regulations
The Daily Caller reports on Clyde Wayne Crews's annual report on the costs of federal regulation. Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) describes the thousands…
Cato Unbound
The Administrative State’s Irredeemable Devotion to Central Power
Washington Examiner
Shock report: Federal red tape eats 11% GDP, rivals ALL pretax corporate profits
Washington Examiner reports on Wayne Crews's annual report on the size and cost of the federal regulatory state. The annual "Ten Thousand Commandments" report…
The Hill
Federal regulations cost economy $1.9T in 2015, controversial study claims
The Hill discusses with Wayne Crews his annual report on the size and costs of federal regulations. The cost of federal regulations is…
Fox News
Report: Federal regulations costing US $1.9T annually
Fox News discusses the cost of federal regulations as cited in Wayne Crews's annual report. Federal regulations are now costing U.S. taxpayers and businesses…
Washington Times
Cost of complying with federal regulations hits $1.9 trillion — higher than federal tax burden
Washington Times discusses Wayne Crews's annual report on the size and cost of federal regulations. “Regulations cost more than the federal income tax,”…
Townhall
Yowza: Federal Regulations Are Costing Americans Insane Amounts of Money
Townhall reports on Wayne Crews's study on the size and cost of federal government regulation. According to a new report released by the…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As the Federal Register passed the 25,000-page mark, new rules for the week ranged from fluorescent lamps to disaffected youth. On to the data: Last week, 65…
The Patriot Post
Regulations Are the Ties That Bind
The Patriot Post mentions Wayne Crews's annual report on the number of federal regulations. Just how many regulations are we talking about? As of…
Blog
The Proliferation of Federal Agency Guidance Documents
Recently we looked at some prominent recent examples of federal agency guidance—costly to-dos for the private sector. Today I wanted to say just a…
Investor's Business Daily
How Overregulation Is Killing The Economy
The Investor's Business Daily highlights Wayne Crews's annual Ten Thousand Commandments report on the costs of federal regulation. The Competitive Enterprise Institute publishes…
Blog
When Bureaus Attack: Recent Examples of Federal Regulation by “Guidance Document”
In the recent paper “Why Congress Must End Regulation by Guidance Document,” I described the rise of federal agency regulatory dark matter and…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The number of new final regulations in 2016 passed the 1,000 mark on Friday. Last week’s new rules cover everything from semipostal stamps to vapor…
Forbes
Celebrating International Mother Earth Day With A Normal Western Civilization Gas Can
It’s the weekend after International Mother Earth Day 2016, and the United States signed the Paris Climate Agreement. To President Barack Obama, the…
TheBlaze
Governing by Blog Post? Report Finds Obama Administration Creatively Imposing New Federal Rules
TheBlaze reports on Wayne Crews's report on agency's regulation through guidance documents. The Obama administration, already under fire for bypassing Congress, is also finding…
Washington Times
Policy group warns of secretive ‘regulatory dark matter’ within the federal government
The Washington Times reports on Wayne Crews's research on the practice of federal agencies regulating through guidance documents and blog posts. The government can regulate the…
News Release
Report: Washington’s “Regulatory Dark Matter” Devours Economy, Jobs
Regulators are imposing new restrictions on American businesses and economic activity through guidance documents, memoranda and even blog posts, with little oversight from Congress or…
Study
Why Congress Must End Regulation by Guidance Document
Regulators are imposing new restrictions on American businesses and economic activity through guidance documents, memoranda and even blog posts, with little oversight from Congress or…
Blog
Federal Agency “Guidance Document” Disclosure Gaps Show Congress Is in the Dark on Regulatory Overreach
In “A Quick and Dirty Inventory of Federal Agencies' Significant Guidance Documents,” I provided, well, a quick and dirty table depicting “significant” (usually, not always,…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As the number of new regulations in 2016 threatens the 1,000 mark, new rules cover everything from rural broadband to flatfish. On to the data:…
Forbes
Why President Barack Obama’s Executive Order On Competition Is Anti-Competitive
When you see a headline like “Obama to Sign Executive Order to Ignite Corporate Competition” you have to scratch your head at the premise,…
TheBlaze
White House: Executive Order Could Cut Regulations to Boost Competition
TheBlaze discusses Wayne Crews's recent report which discusses the number of regulations created in both Obama and Bush's administrations. The Obama administration has…
Blog
A Quick and Dirty Inventory of Federal Agencies’ Significant Guidance Documents
Much is written by many on federal agency regulations’ expansion and costs. Beyond those, guidance documents, memoranda, notices, and other regulatory dark matter…
Blog
Obama’s 7 Years of Regulation Easily Outstrip Bush’s 8
Annually, despite ups and downs, the number of federal rules and regulations tops 3,400. While the overall rule counts in the Federal Register and…
Washington Examiner
Obama passes Bush’s number of costly regs — and has 10 months to go
The Washington Examiner quotes an analysis by Wayne Crews on Obama's annual average of regulations. According to CEI's Clyde Wayne Crews, Obama has…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Another Friday meant another 699-page Federal Register, which now exceeds 20,000 pages on the year. The big news is a fiduciary rule for retirement planning, but…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The week ended with precisely 800 new final regulations on the year, with new rules covering everything from chairs to obesity. On to the data:…
Forbes
Won’t Cut Federal Spending? Then Cap The Cost Of Regulation
Last week a group of libertarian and conservative groups issued a coalition letter calling on Congress to cap regulatory costs. While some of us…
American Spectator
Mr. Trump: America’s Economic Problem is Regulation, Not Trade
The Cato Institute's Doug Bandow cites Wayne Crews on the problem of the regulatory burden: Clyde Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has…
Blog
Federal Government Is Good for U.S. Economy
If you’re a fellow free-market advocate and did not arrive at this page from social media (or missed our #AprilFools joke), don’t…
National Affairs
Putting Regulators on a Budget
National Affairs references Wayne Crews's work on the cost of regulation. In recent years, there have been several studies published describing the aggregate,…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Supporting a Regulatory Budget
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Members of Congress, On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our members, we call on Congress…
Washington Times
Coalition of free market groups urges Congress to cap and track stifling federal regulations
The Washington Times reports on a coalition letter led by CEI that urges Congress to pass a budget that addresses regulation. Big government…
The Hill
Groups push Congress to create regulatory budget
The Hill reports on a coalition letter led by CEI and sent to Congress urging lawmakers to approve the proposed regulatory budget. Advocacy…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Friday’s Federal Register, the last before the Easter holiday, contained 1,005 pages, 14 final regulations, nine proposed regulations, and an impressive 119 agency notices. New rules…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Along with nearly four dozen proposed regulations, new final regulations from the last week cover everything from cable boxes to Texas grapefruit. On to the…
Townhall
Washington’s Despotic Lawlessness
Townhall discusses Washington's lawlessness with Wayne Crews, author of the annual Ten Thousand Commandments reports. The Competitive Enterprise Institute is renowned for its…
Forbes
GOP Releases Contested 2017 Balanced Budget Proposal — With A Regulatory Budget Alongside
House Republican leadership released their 2017 “Balanced Budget for a Stronger America” fiscal year budget proposal. It seeks to balance the budget in 10…
Blog
Oversight Hearing Will Find Federal Regulatory Transparency Quite Opaque
The 2015 edition of White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) annual Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations was latest we’ve seen…
Blog
USA Act Increases Accountability, Restores Congress’ Power of the Purse
Separation of powers is one of the United States government’s most basic principles. But for several decades, presidents from both parties have gradually concentrated more…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was just another week in the world of federal regulation, with new rules covering everything from Nixon’s archives to black bears. On to the…
Wall Street Journal
Hillary’s Soft Despotism
The Wall Street Journal cites Wayne Crews's study on the size of the federal regulatory burden and it's effects. According to the most recent…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
After several years and multiple lawsuits, the TSA deigned to issue a formal rule for its use of full-body scanners. CEI’s Marc Scribner finds that the…
Forbes
Nobody Knows The Cost Of Antitrust Regulation, And That’s Bad
Antitrust regulation is hardly insignificant, and its costs need to be recognized in today’s world. We’ve seen interference into ATT‘s attempted merger with T-Mobile, delays…
Blog
Barack Obama as FCC Chairman
The saga of executive branch overreach continues, and we got a twofer today. The House Judiciary Task Force on Executive Overreach held a hearing this…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
As the 2016 Federal Register passed the 10,000-page mark, new regulations cover everything from salmon to wine. On to the data: Last week, 67 new final regulations…
Products
Big, bloated government
The Pittsburg Trib cites Wayne Crews's study on the federal regulatory state. It gets worse. Clyde Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week in Washington due to George Washington’s Birthday, also known as President’s Day. Even so, federal agencies still published new…
Washington Times
Obama says he’s not a ‘big government’ liberal
The Washington Times cites CEI's study on the size of the Federal Register. But last year was a record-setting year for the Federal…
Forbes
The Growing Outrage Of Off-The-Books Federal Regulation
President Barack Obama has practically trademarked going around Congress, proclaiming “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone. And that’s all I…
Blog
Presidential Candidates Neglect Regulatory Bureaucracy
Allowing a $19 trillion federal debt when it was obvious that interest rates couldn’t remain zero forever is Exhibit A that legislatures rarely control spending.
Forbes
Memo To Presidential Candidates: Here’s How Oversight Of Federal Red Tape Is A Total Disaster
"[A]s more goals are pursued through rules and regulations mandating private outlays rather than through direct government expenditures, the Federal budget is an…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big regulatory news this week is the Supreme Court’s decision to delay the EPA’s big power plant emission regulation. Other than that, agencies issued…
Blog
The Improvisational Fed, and Unpredictable Regulations
Improvisation can be a wonderful thing when performed by talented hands—Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and the like. The Federal Reserve, especially for the past several…
Forbes
Obama’s Budget Proposal Tops $4 Trillion, But Don’t Look To Republicans For Anything Better
Obama’s $4.147 trillion 2017 fiscal budget proposal won’t even merit a hearing in Congress, but it highlights similarities more than differences with Republicans. Among other…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Back to business as usual this week, with new regulations covering everything from Taiwanese orchids to student pilots. On to the data: Last week, 58…
Real Clear Policy
Washington’s ‘Dark Matter’ Regulations
In a recent Gallup poll, Americans named the government as the top problem facing our nation for the second year in a row —…
Breitbart
What Women Really Want to Talk About
Breitbart cites CEI's study on the number of regulations published in the Federal Register. And Competitive Enterprise Institute data shows the number of…
Blog
How to Get Rid of Obsolete Regulations
The House this week is considering H.R. 1675, the Encouraging Employee Ownership Act, sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.). I’ll leave it to my colleague…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big Snowzilla storm came and went, but still made its presence known in the Federal Register. For many documents, there is a lag of a…
CNN
Reality Check: Carson on “absurd” government regulations
CNN's Reality Check Team references a study on regulations by Wayne Crews. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank, there were…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short week due to both MLK Day and a large snowstorm in the DC area, but regulators still issued new rules covering everything…
Blog
Market Dominance Doesn’t Last; Regulation Shouldn’t Either
One of the justifications for heavy regulation of large companies is that they use market power to crush competition and maintain market dominance. Yet the…
El Dorado Springs Sun
Burdensome Regulations Time to Scrub Missouri Clean
The El Dorado Springs Sun refers to CEI's study on the costs of federal regualtions. Every American taxpayer will spend an estimated 77…
The Heartland Institute
Obama Unveils Last-Minute Regulatory Agenda
The Heartland Institute discusses Obama's plans to release midnight regulations with Wayne Crews. Wayne Crews, vice president for policy at the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Things sped up last week after 2016’s slow start. The Energy Department issued the year’s first two economically significant regulations, and other new regulations cover…
Forbes
Shaky Stock Market A Signal Obama Should Reconsider Veto Threat On Red Tape Relief
In his final State of the Union Address, with a sinking stock market as backdrop, President Barack Obama said, “I think there are outdated regulations…
Breitbart
America Must Tame Regulation, ‘Bring Small Businesses Back’
Breitbart mentions CEI's research on the impact of the regulatory burden on small businesses. Data compiled by the Competitive Enterprise Institute shows that…
Washington Examiner
Kasich touts one-year freeze on regulations
The Washington Examiner mentions CEI's study on the amount of regulations created in 2015. In 2015 alone, 3,378 rules and regulations were finalized,…
Watchdog.org
Obama missed opportunity to highlight red tape in final State of the Union
Watchdog.org quotes Wayne Crews on President Obama's final year in office and the large quantity of regulations to be expected. “Since the president’s final…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
After a record-setting 2015, 2016 got off to a slow start, with new rules covering everything from vending machines to Nebraskan sludge. Even so, it…
One News Now
Congress runner-up in ‘red tape’ production
One News Now discusses with Ryan Young the regulations created by the executive branch agencies, which far outweigh those from Congress. According to the Competitive Enterprise…
Forbes
Obama’s Legacy: An Abundance Of Executive Actions
President Barack Obama’s final-year aspirations as outlined in an earlier-than-usual State of the Union Address will likely showcase executive action on gun control (watch for…
Breitbart
Report: Federal Agencies Passed 39 New Regulations For Every One Law
Breitbart discusses Wayne Crews' report on the amount of rules that federal agencies created for every one law that Congress passed in 2015. …
USA Today
Employment statistics don’t tell whole story
USA Today mentions Wayne Crews' report on the amount of rules that federal agencies created for every one law that Congress passed in 2015. …
Blog
Regulatory Reform in 2016 Starts Now
The House is voting on two pieces of regulatory reform legislation today, the Sunshine Act and the SCRUB Act. Both will likely pass, then it’s…
Real Clear Policy
Reforming Regulation in 2016
The year 2015 was a record-setting one for regulation. The 2015 Federal Register, the daily digest where agencies publish proposed and final rules, reached 82,035…
Blog
The 2016 Unconstitutionality Index: 39 Federal Rules for Every Law Congress Passes
The New Year brought news of yet more executive action by President Obama, most prominently this time on tweaking the Second Amendment and access to…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
2015 was a record-setting year, with the Federal Register reaching 82,035 pages. This breaks the previous record by more than 600 pages, or roughly the length of Moby…
Washington Times
The Unconstitutionality Index: 3,408 New Federal Regulations, 87 Laws
The Washington Times discusses Clyde Wayne Crews’ recent report on the alarming growth of regulations. The nation continues to be a playground for government…
Washington Examiner
Unconstitutionality Index: Obama issues 39 rules for every law
The Washington Examiner discusses the current administration's increase in regulations per law passed with Clyde Wayne Crews. "Bush's last six years averaged 17, while…
The Wall Street Journal
Happy New Regulatory Year
The Wall Street Journal cites CEI's Wayne Crews on the growing yearly tally of regulations: Unofficially, Mr. Obama’s Administration has once again…
Blog
Bureaucracy Unbound: 2015 Is Another Record Year For The Federal Register
With one day to go in 2015, the Federal Register tops off at 81,611 pages. That’s higher than last year at 77,687 pages and higher than it’s…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
78 new regulations, from drones to ground beef.
Blog
Washington Says Merry Christmas With 80,000 Pages Of Regulation
There may be a federal war on coal in the ground, but Washington has plenty of coal for your Christmas stocking. The Federal Register—where federal…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
There are just eight more editions of the Federal Register remaining to be published this year. With new regulations in the last week covering everything from truck…
Blog
Obama Cements Status as King of Regulatory Bloat
Today marks a milestone for the one brandishing the Mighty Pen and Phone. The Federal Register hit 78,648 pages today. The Register is where the federal…
National Review
Omnibus Bill: Search in Vain for the Regulatory Relief
There are certainly some good things in the Omnibus Spending/Tax Extenders bills that dropped early this morning (though I…
Washington Examiner
Report: Obama Sets Red Tape Record, 545,875 Pages
The Washington Examiner cites Wayne Crews' work on the scope of President Obama's record-setting regulations: What's more, Obama still has half a month…
Blog
Omnibus with Significant Reg Relief May Be Worth Supporting
As the year-end omnibus spending bill is about to be unveiled, there will be a scramble to examine its provisions. In many policy areas, my…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a comparatively slow week for regulations, though agencies still published new rules ranging from bright lamps to train doors. On to the data:…
Fox Business
The Federal Government’s Vegetative Universe
Fox Business reports on Wayne Crews' study on the hard-to-detect regulations created by federal agencies, without Congress' approval, and their economic costs. The rules hit…
Blog
Regulatory Dark Matter
How do regulations get made? Agencies have to follow specific procedures, first outlined in the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act. The trouble is that many agencies simply…
Washington Examiner
Report: Obama admin winning the new regulations race
The Washington Examiner discusses Wayne Crew's report on the thousands of regulations that agencies pass each year. Federal agencies enacted 16 regulations for every one…
Investor's Business Daily
The Growing Threat Of “Dark Matter” Regulations
Investor's Business Daily reports on Wayne Crews' study on the growing regulatory burden created by executive orders, which are hard to detect. Author…
News Release
Mapping Washington’s Lawlessness: CEI Releases Inventory of How the Federal Government Interferes in Americans’ Lives
Today, the Competitive Enterprise released the first comprehensive report on how the executive branch goes around Congress, the American people, and the Administrative Procedure…
Study
Mapping Washington’s Lawlessness
Wayne Crews writes a preliminary inventory of “Regulatory Dark Matter.”…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
With most of December still to go, the 2015 Federal Register is already the seventh largest ever, going back to 1936. It remains on pace to set the…
National Review
Highway Robbery: Bill Gives IRS Power over Passports
Iain Murray discusses the provision to the highway bill that allows the IRS to revoke passports. This Thanksgiving, we were missing a family…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Despite a respite for Thanksgiving, the 2015 Federal Register is now on pace to set an all-time record page count. It began publication in 1936. New regulations…
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