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: airline fees and greenhouse gas reporting
The Federal Register grew at nearly triple its usual pace last week. It is on pace for its first-ever 100,000-page year. GDP growth slowed to…
The Center Square
Study: Mixed record on permitting reform offers some hope
CEI’s James Broughel provided comments to The Center Square about a study he authored: “Pennsylvania’s a state where energy is very important to its…
Forbes
Libertarian Victory: You Mean We Can Shut Down Government Without Even Passing A Law?
It is happening again. Congress will enact another bloated, pork-laden and largely unread omnibus spending bill to complete formal appropriations for the 2024 fiscal year…
Search Posts
Study
Federal Pesticide Law Needs an Overhaul: Anti-Competitive Effects Hit Consumers, A Case Study
Full Document Available in PDF Most Americans believe that the federal regulatory process is simply designed to protect them from fraud and…
News Release
International Airline Deregulation
Click here to visit the Kojo Nnamdi Show’s Web site.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> …
Op-Eds
Vox Populi and Public Policy
“How can you tell whether a whale is a mammal or a fish?” a teacher asks her third-grade class. “Take a vote?” pipes…
News Release
Court Verdict Threatens Future of Internet
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” /> Washington, D.C., October 8, 2003—A federal court decision this week has thrown the commercial future…
Op-Eds
Are Small Particles Such a Big Problem?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, small particles in the air pose the greatest threat that it or any other regulatory agency is…
Op-Eds
Running Away From Safety
Remember Jim Fixx? Not many people do, and that's a shame. Fixx was a jogging guru who ran 60 miles a week. He…
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