Executive Order aims to fight overregulation and unlawfulness in federal agencies: CEI analysis

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A new Executive Order signed by President Trump entitled “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘DOGE’ Regulatory Initiative,” aims to continue the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) deregulatory efforts by mandating agencies report unlawful regulations for review. CEI regulatory experts applaud the White House for pursuing agency transparency through fighting overregulation.

Senior Fellow James Broughel:

“President Trump’s latest executive order takes an important step in the fight against overregulation by requiring federal agencies to identify harmful and unlawful regulations within 60 days​. This initiative will help build an inventory of bad regulations that can serve as a foundation for advancing the administration’s ambitious one-in, ten-out policy. While compiling a list of outdated or burdensome rules is useful, it is only a first step. For maximum impact, the Department of Government Efficiency needs to set clear regulatory reduction goals, establish meaningful metrics to define success, and implement deadlines and incentives to ensure agencies follow through​. Without these additional measures, this effort—while worthwhile—will fall short of addressing the broader problem of excessive regulation. An audit of bad rules is necessary, but it must be paired with more concrete goals and enforcement mechanisms to drive real reform.”

Senior Economist Ryan Young:

“This executive order will encourage agencies to do something they should already be doing: cleaning out their books of obsolete, redundant, or harmful regulations. While it is unfortunate that it takes an order from the president to compel agencies to ensure their work is congressionally authorized and not repetitive or harmful, this is a good first step. For reforms to last longer than a change in power, Congress needs to codify them with legislation. While this new executive order from President Trump could have significant short-term benefits, lasting reform requires congressional involvement.”