For decades, CEI has analyzed the expanding reach of unelected bureaucrats. Now, the Unconstitutionality Index—a concept pioneered by CEI scholar Wayne Crews—is shaping conversations at the highest levels of government.
The Unconstitutionality Index
You may have heard of the Unconstitutionality Index—We’ve been tracking it for years.
Who’s Really Making the Laws?
This Unconstitutionality Index—the ratio of regulations issued by agencies to laws passed by Congress and signed by the president—underlines how much agency lawmaking has replaced that of elected officials. The average ratio over the past 10 years is 23 rules for every law.
Explore More: CEI’s Work on Regulatory Reform
Wayne Crews explains why reducing bureaucratic overreach should be a top priority—and how the Unconstitutionality Index highlights Congress’s abdication of power.
During calendar year 2024, agencies issued 3,248 rules, whereas Congress enacted 175 laws. Thus, agencies issued 19 rules for every law enacted by Congress.
One of the themes of the incoming Trump administration is that federal administrative agencies, rather than the elected Congress, write most laws.
Clyde Wayne Crews | Forbes | January 9, 2025
Just as the incoming Trump administration promised to repeal “foolish” and “radical” Biden executive actions—and issue so many executive orders on day one “your head will spin”—President Biden delivered his parting Federal Register over the weekend. Pre-dated for Tuesday the 21st, it serves as a final display of his regulatory ambitions.
Clyde Wayne Crews | Forbes | January 20, 2025
Inside Ten Thousand Commandments: The Price of Regulation
CEI’s annual report breaks down the true cost of federal regulations. Swipe through key data on economic burdens, agency overreach, and the need for reform.
Wayne Crews is the Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. His work explores the impact of government regulation of free enterprise. He studies antitrust and competition policy, safety and environmental issues, and the challenges of the information age like privacy, online security, broadband policy, and intellectual property.
Crews is the author of the annual report, “Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State.” He co-authored “This Liberal Congress Went to Market?,” a Bipartisan Policy Agenda for the 110th Congress, and “Communications without Commissions: A National Plan for Reforming Telecom Regulation.” Prior to the assorted government bailouts now taking place, he wrote the report, “Still Stimulating Like It’s 1999: Time to Rethink Bipartisan Collusion on Economic Stimulus Packages.”
Clyde Wayne Crews
About the Author
If DOGE and agency heads succeed in their mission, it will be nothing less than the greatest deregulatory achievement seen in the modern world.
Iain Murray | The Daily Economy | March 3, 2025
