regulatory reform

The Midwest froze, but the Federal Register began to heat up. As I predicted earlier, the first three post-shutdown editions were slow. Then Thursday’s edition alone had 220 agencies notices and 447 pages, both well above normal levels. Thursday also saw the year’s first economically significant regulation, a 70-pager for H-1B visa applicants. On February 1, the Federal Register cracked 1,000 pages, which might be the latest date that has happened since 1959.

In my recent Forbes column “Rule of Flaw and the Costs of Coercion: Charting Undisclosed Burdens of the Administrative State,” I discussed checks on the administrative state, as well as some of the roots of bureaucratic governance. While there is always heated discussion about the costs of regulation, it is apparent that less is known than unknown about the scope of federal regulation and its social and economic effects.

U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III noted in a 2017 journal article that regulation sometimes contains “too much detail,” changes too “frequently and capriciously,” creates backlogs and delay of work and decisions, or even results in “imperiousness” and “jerk[ing] people around.”

The partial shutdown ended on Friday, though only on a three-week deal. This likely will not show up in the Federal Register’s page and rule counts until mid- to late-week, given that it usually operates on a 2-3 day lag. Regulations that did appear during the week range from cockpit displays to crabbing vessels.

President Donald Trump has pruned rules and costs at a quicker pace than other presidents. But could his other policies torpedo that?

Last week, people got worked up over hamburgers and a television commercial about razors. Meanwhile the partial federal shutdown continued, and a bill to introduce a $15 federal minimum wage was introduced. Tuesday’s one-page Federal Register may have set a record for brevity, with just one agency notice and no new regulations. Regulations that did appear during the week range from Chinese archaeology to Rolls-Royce engines.

On Saturday the partial government shutdown became the longest ever. The news cycle was wall-to-wall wall and shutdown coverage, though Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) introduced a misguided bill to expand presidential tariff-making authority. The week’s 69-page Federal Register contained just one final regulation, 26 agency notices, and 2 presidential documents. For context, a typical day consists of a dozen or so new regulations and about 270 pages. The lone new regulation from last week concerns Alaskan fishing.