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
This week in ridiculous regulations: Lime emissions and stabilizing the Western Balkans
The 2024 Federal Register set a new all-time record page count on December 3. It surpassed 2016’s record of 95,894 pages with nearly a month to spare. Syria’s dictatorship…
Blog
Biden breaks Federal Register record
Joe Biden’s administration has set a new Federal Register record with 96,088 pages as of December 3, 2024, surpassing the Obama administration’s 95,894 pages in…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Milk marketing and sport fishing
It was a shortened week on account of Thanksgiving. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from fed cattle to general service lamps. On to the data: • Agencies issued 57 final regulations last week,…
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The Hill
How Trump Can Build on Regulatory Reform: Borrow From Reagan’s Playbook
The Hill cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the cost which federal regulations pass onto consumers. One of the most successful policy achievements…
Blog
Red Tape Discourages Entrepreneurs, CEI Expert Explains in Fraser Institute Book
Today, the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank, released a new book on worldwide barriers to entrepreneurship, Demographics and Entrepreneurship: Mitigating the…
The Daily Mail
The Race Is On for Slice of Lucrative US Gambling Pie
The Daily Mail cited Michelle Minton on the conditions which observers ought expect will rise across different states concerning the management and taxation of online…
Op-Eds
Next-Level Prosperity: Explaining And Reversing Declining Entrepreneurship Rates
One of the consequences of aging populations in the West that may sometimes not be fully incorporated into public policy is that the pool of folks inclined…
Watchdog
U.S. Supreme Court Opens Door For States To Allow Sports Betting
Watchdog cited Michelle Minton on the financial benefits to states on the deregulation of online sports betting, and on the stained-glass landscape which people should…
The Hill
The Flip Side of Tax Reform: Federal Spending Reform
The Hill cited Clyde Wayne Crews on the annual cost which federal regulations impose on Americans, the cost of which amounts to ten percent of our…
SFGate
Trump, Top Car Executives Meet Amid Struggle Over Climate Rules for Automobiles
SFGate cited Myron Ebell on the need for diversification in motor vechicle standards in order to suit the diverse needs of Americans living across the…
Natural Product Insider
‘Made in the USA’ Claims: Handle With Care
Natural Product Insider cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the financial benefits to businesses caused by deregulation during the Trump Administration so far. …
Blog
Friendly Mentions for ‘10,000 Commandments’ Study
Here at the Competitive Enterprise Institute we’re happy to see the attention being received by the 25th anniversary edition of Wayne Crews’ popular study of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The big news from the last week was the release of the spring edition of the twice-yearly Unified Agenda, which lists all planned agency regulations…
The Washington Examiner
Trump’s Transition Chiefs Urge Him to Stay the Course On Auto Rollback
The Washington Examiner cited Myron Ebell in his signing a joint letter to the president urging him to stay on course in reforming auto emissions…
Investor's Business Daily
Spending Reform: The Flip Side of Federal Tax Reform
IBD cited Wayne Crews on just how much of a tremendous burden is being imposed upon the national economy by federal regulations. We…
InsideSources
Fed Labor Board Looks to Undo Obama-Era Rule
InsideSources cited Trey Kovacs on the importance how the National Labor Relations Board new joint employer rulemaking will benefit businesses and workers by aiding to…
News Release
Net Neutrality Regulations Are Not Neutral, Harm Innovators and Consumers
A group of Senators are pushing for a vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Federal Communications Commissions’ (FCC) Restoring Internet…
Blog
Trump Administration Regulatory Agenda Released
Today the Trump administration released the Spring 2018 edition of the twice-yearly Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, accompanied…
Blog
‘10,000 Commandments’ in the News
The 25th anniversary edition of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s regulatory reform study “10,000 Commandments” has received a warm welcome since it was released…
4-traders
More than 50 Members, Stakeholders Call on Admin to Scrap Obama Mineral Withdrawals
4-traders cited the work of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in pressing reviews of Obama-era mineral withdrawals which were implemented without due consideration for the local…
The State Journal-Register
Point: In The Name Of Safety, They Should Allow Testing Of Driverless Cars On Their Roads
The State Journal-Register cited Marc Scribner about how local jurisdictions are not qualified to determine the legality of driverless cars and that their lack of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
It is now May, and still only one economically significant regulation (costing $100 million or more per year) has been issued this year. With the…
Blog
Sen. Lankford Headlines Mercatus Event on Regulation and Opportunity
Recently the Mercatus Center hosted an excellent panel discussion on the effects of regulation on entrepreneurs and the poor. I was excited to see…
Politico
House SNAP Overhaul Could Take a Decade to Implement
Politico cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute on its role in urging upon changing the House farm bill to tackle runaway rates of federally promoted farm…
Blog
Dueling Calculations for the Cost of Federal Regulation
Recently here at CEI, we’ve been celebrating the release of the 25th anniversary edition of our major report on the costs of government regulation,…
E&E News
Key Obama Climate Orders Still On the Books
E&E News cited Myron Ebell on the inefficiencies of the Trump administration in rescinding executive orders dating from the Obama administration which hold strong implications…
The American Spectator
From The Heartland — Celebrate Small Business Week the Right Way
The American Spectator cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute about federal overregulation in not only the immense financial burden however also includes the plethora of rules…
Blog
Regulatory Reform in Congress
While the president’s initial flurry of executive orders enacting some regulatory reforms was a pleasant surprise, the next president can undo them with the stroke…
Blog
Long History for ‘10,000 Commandments’ on Capitol Hill
The 25th anniversary of CEI’s flagship study on federal regulation, “10,000 Commandments”, has been getting a lot of attention recently. We’re always happy when…
Blog
How to Encourage Tech Competition: Deregulate Finance
It’s May Day, and in the pages of the New York Times appears a paean to the halcyon days of the 1930s, urging a…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The number of new final regulations passed the 1,000 mark last week, with new rules ranging from sending mail to human reliability programs.
Blog
Visualizing the Burden of Federal Regulation
The Competitive Enterprise Institute recently released the 25th anniversary edition of Wayne Crews’ widely-cited study “10,000 Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State.”…
Blog
Some Context for the Astronomical Cost of Government Regulation
Since any number with that many zeroes and commas in it is difficult for the human mind to process, let’s put it in a more…
Reason Magazine
Trump’s Regulatory Slowdown Is Real
Reason Magazine discusses the deregulatory actions of the Trump administration and Ten Thousand Commandments, CEI’s assessment of the size of the regulatory state.
Washington Examiner
Here’s a Reason for Libertarians to Love Trump
The Washington Examiner profiles Ten Thousand Commandments: CEI’s vice president for policy, Clyde Wayne Crews, cheered the current administration for cutting back…
The Hill
When a Bureaucrat Asks for Less Power, Give it to Him
Former Congressman Mick Mulvaney is now a bureaucrat — so he proclaimed at a Congressional hearing on April 18. The acting director of…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The big news this week was the release of the 2018 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments. Agencies continued to provide fodder for next years edition…
Blog
Lessons for Congress from ‘10,000 Commandments’: Regulatory Budgets
One of the lessons learned from this year’s “10,000 Commandments” study is that Congress needs to be more involved in the regulatory process. It needs…
Blog
The Changing Face of Selling Liberty Online
We’ve been publishing and promoting the study for many years, and our strategies and methods have changed as the years have gone by. When we…
USA Today
Trump is Cutting Through Regulations, but Only Congress Can Make it Last
Eventually, politicians will be forced to get spending and deficits under control, but regulatory reforms are just as important to keep the economy growing and…
Blog
‘10,000 Commandments’ at 25: What Have We Learned, What’s to Come?
Wayne Crews has ably documented the regulatory state for twenty-five years and running. But what will the next twenty-five years of “10,000 Commandments” look like?…
Blog
The Cost of Washington’s ‘10,000 Commandments’
Federal regulation cost Americans $1.9 trillion in 2017, or nearly $15,000 per U.S. household—more than Americans spend on any category in their family budget except…
News Release
Trump Administration’s Success in Tackling $2 Trillion Federal Regulatory Burden Faces Risk
While President Trump has slowed the growth of new regulation, there are warning signs that federal agencies are already on track to reverse his progress.
News Release
Senate Votes Down Unfair CFPB Auto Lending Rule
CEI praised the Senate today for voting down the Obama-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that unfairly penalized auto lenders for any unintentional disparate impact…
Study
Ten Thousand Commandments 2018
View the Full Report Here Ten Thousand Commandments is the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual survey of the size, scope, and cost of federal regulations,…
Blog
AI in the UK: Lords’ Report Makes Startups Less Competitive
The British House of Lords recently published a report on artificial intelligence, which includes policy recommendations that would hamper the development of AI domestically and…
Products
Liberate to Stimulate
Download Chapter 10 as a PDF Policy makers frequently propose spending stimulus as a way to grow economies. It rarely goes well.
Products
Regulation and the FCC
Download Chapter 9 as a PDF The Federal Communications Commission is by no means the heavyweight among regulators as gauged by the…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The highlights from this week’s round of 36 proposed regulations and 72 final regulations range from licensing government inventions to the Department of Redundancy Department’s…
Forbes
An Inventory Of Federal Agency Guidance Documents
Is that an exciting click-bait title or what? It gets even better though. Federal regulations’ hundreds of billions in costs and…
Op-Eds
The Six Ways Trump Has Cut Red Tape (So Far)
Alongside tax reform, cutting red tape has been big news. Congress created the regulatory enterprise and enabled the now-sweeping delegation of legislative power to administrative agencies…
Marketplace Radio
AUDIO: John Berlau Discusses Accountability at the CFPB with American Public Media’s Marketplace
John Berlau, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined American Public Media’s Marketplace, to discuss how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be…
Forbes
Mark Zuckerberg Testimony: Will Washington Cast The First Stone At Facebook?
As Facebook is embroiled in three separate privacy crises, let he who never transacts commercially or politically cast the first stone.
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