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,…
Search Posts
CNBC
Trump’s deregulation wave may have companies geared up to spend and hire
CNBC highlights Wayne Crews’s calculated cost of federal regulations from his annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. In a Friday note, Jefferies Chief Market…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
With the new administration’s regulatory freeze now in full effect, there were just 8 proposed new regulations published last week. This was the lowest figure…
Washington Post
Can Trump win his war on the regulatory state?
The Washington Post discusses the cost of federal regulations with Wayne Crews. Now regulation is pervasive. It touches air and water pollution, pensions,…
Blog
Encouraging Job Report Suggests Deregulation Will Get America Back to Work
New employment numbers suggest that employers are starting to respond to the promise of substantial deregulation by the new administration.
Blog
Nestlé, Other Businesses Flee California
Poor economic policy is negatively impacting job prospects in the Golden State.
Blog
Assessing Prospects for Bipartisan Consensus on Regulatory Reform
The federal government doesn’t merely spend $4 trillion a year, it directs the private sector to spend and otherwise re-purposes enormous resources.
Washington Examiner
Trump about to unleash his fury on the regulatory state
Washington Examiner highlights Wayne Crews’s work to track the number and cost of federal regulations. No one even has a reliable count of…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Use Congressional Review Act
View Full Document as PDF Dear Senators and Representatives: On behalf of the millions of Americans that our organizations represent, we are…
Forbes
Trump And The Federal Bureaucracy Just Collided — Here’s What Happens Next
Agencies’ rules and regulations surged during Barack Obama’s last year, helping create a Federal Register 20 percent larger than the prior record. Bureaus and…
Blog
Trump ‘2-for-1’ Executive Order Could Save Lives
Many federal regulations harm health and safety, so President Trump’s executive order requiring “agencies to revoke two regulations for every new rule they want to issue”…
Blog
‘One In, Two Out’: Trump’s Executive Order on New Regulations
President Trump's latest executive order on regulatory reform could be an important step in the right direction for reining in government red tape.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
For the next few weeks, the Federal Register will likely have fewer pages and regulations than usual.
News Release
Wayne Crews of CEI Responds to President Trump’s Executive Order on Regulations
“Regulations have compounded for decades with very little rollback ever taking place, so President Trump’s executive order requiring agencies to identify two regulations for elimination,…
The Hill
Groups clash over GOP tool to roll back regulations
The Hill reports on a letter CEI signed, that urges Congress to bring regulatory reform by using the Congressional Review Act. Conservative groups…
Reason.com
Trump’s Executive Order on Regulations Is Welcome, But More Is Needed
Reason.com discusses President Trump’s executive order on new regulations with Wayne Crews. Still, rolling back federal regulations in a meaningful way will require…
Foundation for Economic Education
The Epic Failure of the Government Gas Can
Part of living on Earth is mowing its grass and performing outdoor chores. Last International Earth Day, while the Globe held hands and celebrated Gaia…
Wall Street Journal
How the House Will Roll Back Washington’s Rule by Bureaucrat
The Wall Street Journal highlights Wayne Crews’s annual study on the costs of federal regulations. In President Obama’s final year the Federal Register…
One News Now
Trump’s pen erases trade agreement
One News Now discusses regulatory reform under the Trump administration with Ryan Young. President Trump also made headlines late Friday for a presidential…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The final pre-inauguration Federal Register was 1,464 pages long. A normal day’s edition is roughly 300 pages. Since there is a lag time of a…
Library of Law and Liberty
Regulatory Reform: A Few (Not So) Easy Pieces
Library of Law and Liberty discusses midnight regulations from the Obama administration with Wayne Crews. Yes: you can dismiss REFORM as starry-eyed. It…
Blog
DeVos Hearing Generates Misleading Attacks on Civil Liberties Group FIRE
Betsy DeVos, who was recently nominated to be the next Secretary of Education, has been attacked because she and her husband reportedly made donations to a civil-liberties…
Blog
Where Have All the Startups Gone? New Research from eBay and EIG
Recently eBay’s public policy team here in Washington, D.C. presented a fascinating program on economic growth and new business start-ups.
Study
Resale Pricing in the Contact Lens Industry
View Full Document as PDF More than 30 million Americans wear contact lenses. In recent years, contact lens technology has improved, offering…
Forbes
Donald Trump’s 100 Day Executive Action Agenda
New presidents emphasize 100-day priorities, but president-elect Donald J. Trump likely has a 100-minute agenda. An early post-election action instructed transition managers to “develop…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
In a mere nine working days, the 2017 Federal Register has nearly reached 5,000 pages; the midnight hour approaches.
Blog
Coalition Defends Reform of Credit Union Lending Rules
A dozen conservative and free-market groups have signed onto a coalition letter to preserve deregulation of credit union lending.
Newsmax
Trumponomics Differs From Reaganomics
Newsmax highlights Wayne Crews’s study on the decline of federal regulation during the Reagan administration. Deregulation. Pages within the Federal Register, the official daily…
Forbes
Obama’s Legacy: Here’s A Raft Of Executive Actions Trump May Target
It’s president Barack Obama’s last week. Is the American left ready to consider reining in executive power yet? Coming to terms with the bipartisan stake…
Blog
New York Times Highlights Minimum Wage Tradeoffs
Minimum wage increases have obvious winners, which is why they are so popular. Their tradeoffs are less obvious.
The Hill
It’s time to enact regulatory relief for credit unions and consumers
The Hill quotes Wayne Crews’s research on the cost of federal regulations from his annual Ten Thousand Commandments report. The impact of excessive…
Blog
Chamber of Commerce CEO Lays Out 2017 Agenda
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue gave his annual “State of American Business Address” to a packed hall at the Chamber’s H…
Washington Examiner
9.7 billion hours required to complete 1 year of federal paperwork
Washington Examiner speaks with Clyde Wayne Crews on how many hours it took Americans to fill out and compleate federal paperwork in 2015. …
Blog
Regulatory Accountability Act Poised to Bring Dramatic Improvement to Government Rulemaking
If signed into law by the next president, the Regulatory Accountability Act will have a dramatically positive effect on jobs, productivity, innovation, and overall economic…
Blog
13,953 Human Lifetimes Spent Annually on Federal Paperwork (2017 Edition)
The burden of federal government paperwork now takes up 9.778 billion hours a year.
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations
The midnight regulatory rush continues, with more than 2,100 Federal Register pages, despite a four-day work week, along with 51 proposed regulations and 52 final…
Foundation for Economic Education
Lower Costs, Not Regulations, Will Save the Environment
I have a long bus commute to work in Washington DC. Most mornings I am engrossed in reading the latest news or a scholarly article,…
Blog
Regulatory Reform in 2017: How Much Do Existing Regulations Cost?
The Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act (RREA), sponsored by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), would help fix basic transparency problems with federal regulations.
InsideSources
Congress Should Get Ready to ‘SCRUB’ Regulatory Rulebooks
InsideSources highlights Wayne Crews’s calculated cost of federal regulations from his annual study. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the cost of complying with…
Blog
House Moves on Regulatory Reform, More Votes Coming
Yesterday afternoon the House of Representatives passed the Midnight Rule Relief Act, which would allow Congress to repeal multiple executive branch rules with a single…
Investor's Business Daily
Putting An End To Obama’s Economy-Destroying Regulatory Siege
Investor’s Business Daily highlights Wayne Crews’s research on last-minute federal regulations from the Obama administration. As he heads for the exits, Obama is…
Washington Times
Protective press refuses to call President Obama a ‘lame duck’
The Washington Times reports on Wayne Crews’s research on the number of federal regulations issued in 2016. So how many new regulations did…
Blog
This Week in Ridiculous Regulations: 2016 Wrap-Up
The 2016 Federal Register’s record-setting page count ends at 97,110 pages—more than 15,000 pages above the previous record, set in 2010. The difference is more…
Forbes
The U.S. Economy In 2017: Welcome Higher Growth
Forbes highlights Wayne Crews’s study on the number of federal regulations passed under the Obama administration. Today, there is less uncertainty in politics.
Blog
Best of the Blog 2016
Certain topics were especially popular with readers in 2016.
Blog
The 2017 Unconstitutionality Index: 18 Federal Rules for Every Law Congress Passes
Federal agencies in 2016 issued 18 rules and regulations for every law Congress passed.
Blog
Preparing for the Challenges and Opportunities of 2017
At this time of year, it is easy to focus on endings. The end of the general election campaign in November, however, also marked a…
Breitbart
Obama Oversees Year of Mass Regulation, Record 97,000 Pages of Red Tape
Breitbart highlights Wayne Crews’s report on the number of regulations passed during the Obama administration. President Barack Obama’s administration has added record levels…
Washington Times
Obama Sets A Record For Red Tape in 2016
The Washington Times discusses regulation under the Obama administration with Clyde Wayne Crews. Clyde Wayne Crews, CEI’s vice president for policy, said Republicans…
Washington Examiner
Obama unleashes 3,853 regs, 18 for every law, record 97,110 pages of red tape
Washington Examiner discusses regulation under the Obama administration with Wayne Crews. The proof that it was an overwhelming year for rules and regulations…
Daily Caller
Agencies Issued 18 Regs For Every Law Congress Passed In 2016
The Daily Caller discusses Wayne Crews’s report comparing the Obama administrations regulations to laws that Congress passed in 2016. Executive branch agencies under…
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