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
The week in regulations: Honey taxes and airline delays
August’s job numbers were better than expected. President Trump threatened to cut off trade to all nations that export more to America than they…
Washington Examiner
It took 410 days to build the Empire State Building. Today, the EPA wouldn’t even pass the blueprint
When Congress gets back from its August recess, bipartisan permitting reform talks are expected to continue. There’s no reason…
News Release
Regulators propose improvements to Clean Water Act regs: CEI analysis
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a pre-publication copy of a supplemental notice of proposed…
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Larry Kudlow Show
RADIO: CEI’s Wayne Crews Joins The Larry Kudlow Show
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies Wayne Crews joined The Larry Kudlow Show to discuss the hidden tax of federal regulations.
News Release
CEI Regulation Expert Wayne Crews Becomes “Fred L. Smith, Jr. Fellow in Regulatory Studies”
Longtime regulation policy expert Clyde Wayne Crews is now the inaugural “Fred L. Smith, Jr. Fellow in Regulatory Studies” at the Competitive Enterprise…
National Review
Puerto Rico Libre
The first airplane my father ever boarded was the one that took him from Puerto Rico to New York to attend the United States Military…
News Release
White House Finally Releases “Unified Agenda” on Upcoming Regulations, Signaling a Rise in Big, Costly New Regulations
Today, at last, the White House released the fall 2022 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, where federal regulators report on what they have planned…
Forbes
118th Congress Should Confront Biden Administration On Overdue Regulatory Cost Benefit Reports
Not later than February 5, 2001, and on the first Monday in February of each year thereafter, the President, acting through the Director of…
The Hill
Congress can promote growth by lowering regulatory barriers for consumers and businesses
Three quarters of Americans surveyed by Gallup say they disapprove of the way Congress handles the job of governing. We also know…
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
- Business and Government
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment