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Katie Porter’s exchange with CFPB’s Kraninger revisited amid new revelations
A recently surfaced clip of former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) has sparked a firestorm online. In a newly revealed 2021 video revealed published by…
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The hidden growth of government in an age of less red tape
Recent editions of Ten Thousand Commandments detail how regulatory red tape mushroomed under Biden. For vulnerable small business, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council…
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Senate’s turn to pass the Fix Our Forests Act
It’s not often that legislation has as much bipartisan support as H.R. 471, the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) does. On January 23, FOFA…
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The week in regulations, shutdown edition: Pot gear and hot air fuel
Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize. The partial federal shutdown meant there were no proposed regulations and five new regulations…
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The problem with Obamacare is Obamacare
This year, the COVID-induced expansion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will expire. Extending the expanded subsidies has become a point of contention between Republicans…
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Impasse over NLRB nominee may be just what unions want
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee yesterday approved one of President Trump’s nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main…
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Free the Economy podcast: Celebrating human achievement with Ed Hudgins
In this week’s episode we talk about the need to build more infrastructure in the UK, an award for public finance leadership…
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The week in regulations: Poultry improvement and painful scars
The federal government shut down on Wednesday. Thursday’s Federal Register had 60 final regulations; normal is about 10. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew in hundreds…
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EPA proposed rule cools down costly air conditioner regulation
The Biden administration inflicted many bad appliance regulations on homeowners, but the costliest of them all was an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule requiring…
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Free the Economy podcast: Reforming Social Security with Romina Boccia
In this week’s episode we cover a new study on pharmaceutical tariffs, whether to expect a new Great Depression (via Phil…
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Next BLS head needs be an innovator, not a loyalist
President Trump nominated E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he wanted someone to modernize and update the agency’s methodology.
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Shutdown? Take the win
Last-ditch negotiations are underway as another fiscal year comes to a close on October 1. It’s that familiar crossroads: a threatened shutdown if a funding…
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National Public Lands Day shines light on reasonable entrance fees
September 27 was National Public Lands Day. To celebrate, the National Park Service (NPS) advertised free admission to national parks that normally…
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The week in regulations: Airplane seats and Irish potatoes
President Trump signed an executive order to effectively end the H-1B visa category for high-skilled immigrants. He also raised tariffs on pharmaceuticals, argued without evidence…
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New tariffs for pharmaceuticals, furniture, and trucks
On the night of September 25, after markets closed, the Trump administration announced on social media that a new bevy of tariffs will take…
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The White House’s new visa fee is another tariff
President Trump’s announcement that H1-B visas will now require a payment of $100,000 is best understood as an extension of his…
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Free the Economy podcast: Emergent abundance with Alex Trembath
In this week’s episode we cover the future of financial regulation, the end of the left vs. right distinction in politics, and…
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HSR hibernation: Will the FTC PNO see its shadow during government shutdown?
It’s time for DC to find a real groundhog that can assist in determining if the government will shut down to replace the taxidermied…
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Trump 401(k) EO helps equalize access to alternative assets
For more than a decade at CEI, I have argued that holders of 401(k)s and other defined-contribution plans should have maximum choice in the investments…
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Conservative radio and the risks of FCC pressure on broadcast licensees
Conservative radio is one of the most potent forces in American politics. It emerged from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deregulation that fostered free speech and…
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Is regulation killing American innovation?
The federal government micromanages American businesses and citizens through excessive and costly regulations. These rules stifle innovation, limit competitiveness, and hinder job creation, while also…
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A provisional look at the Trump 2.0 deregulation record
Early in his first term, Donald Trump ordered agencies to eliminate at least two rules for every “significant” one added – rules generally carrying $100…
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The week in regulations: Sausage colors and patriotic education
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened to prosecute hate speech. ABC pulled late night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air…
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Free the Economy podcast: Empowering patients with Vance Ginn
In this week’s episode we cover potential changes to quarterly reporting for public companies, state-level AI regulations, spiking gas prices in…
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California’s climate disclosure laws will devastate interstate commerce
This week, on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I submitted a public comment to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) notice for state…
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Progressive states plan end run around federal labor law
The five-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main federal labor law enforcement agency, is currently down to just one member and therefore lacks…
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GOOD Act markup: The first step in illuminating regulatory dark matter
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) is soon expected to mark up the Guidance Out of Darkness (GOOD) Act, an important bipartisan…
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Some minimum requirements for a proper WOTUS rule
In the coming weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers are expected to release a proposed rule defining what…
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House subcommittee to discuss important Clean Air Act bills
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment will be holding a hearing today entitled “From Gridlock to Growth: Permitting Reform Under the…
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The week in regulations: Date taxes and manifest mailing
Political commentator Charlie Kirk was killed while speaking at an event. While the Producer Price Index went down in August, the Consumer Price Index climbed…
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Free the Economy podcast: Tariffs and economic freedom with Matt Mitchell
In this week’s episode we cover the latest jobs numbers, the emergent community of abundance fans, the limits to taxing billionaires,…
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Trump’s Intel stake and the Peronist precedent of Obama’s auto bailouts
President Trump’s decision to take a 10-percent ownership stake in chipmaker Intel has been described by many commentators as “socialism.” Others have…
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Putting an end to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
The immortality of federal programs no longer seems to be a certainty. A particularly welcome instance of a federal program drawing to a close is…
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Trump’s Unified Agenda of deconstruction: Writing rules to erase rules
“It is the policy of my Administration to focus the executive branch’s limited enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by…
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The week in regulations: Coachella air quality and yogurt vitamins
The Federal Register, which tracks daily regulatory activity, has become less transparent. Jobs numbers for August were disappointing and actually shrank in June for…
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Tariffs are taxes and must be legislatively accountable
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has delivered a decisive rebuke to the new presidential reciprocal and trafficking tariffs. It ruled that a president…
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The beginning of the end for net-zero financial alliances
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the world’s premier financial institutions formed bold climate finance coalitions. The most notable of these was…
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Free the Economy podcast: Clear-but-false ideas with Kevin Williamson
In this week’s episode we cover the Trump tariffs being struck down, Biden’s competition order being vacated, and new research on…
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Messy merger math and the congressional fix
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division has offered a glimpse into premerger enforcement activities over the past six months. In February 2025, the new Hart-Scott-Rodino…
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There’s something wrong with the Federal Register
The Trump-era Federal Register website has been glitching recently. Nearly two weeks ago, I noted on X/Twitter (tagging both @USNatArchives and @FedRegister) that the…
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The week in regulations: Deepwater ports and ASCII relays
A court ruled President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs unconstitutional. The case now moves to the Supreme Court. Countries around the world stopped shipping parcels to…
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Free the Economy podcast: Ideological diversity on the right with Peter Lipsett
In this week’s episode we cover Ray Dalio’s Big Debt Cycle, scandal in climate finance, jobs destroyed by tariffs, why AI…
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Washington just bought Intel—and sold capitalism
Back in 2010, I testified before Congress against reauthorizing the so-called America COMPETES Act. That legislation was the precursor to the much-ballyhooed CHIPS and…
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The week in regulations: Bird hunting and food coloring
The Federal Register’s website became less transparent about rule counts and other data. President Trump threatened to send the military into a third city. The…
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DC Circuit Court shields proxy advisor duopoly
In an unfortunate move, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals recently struck down the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) 2020 Proxy Advisor Rule. The…
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The harm is the process: Unconstitutional NLRB proceedings halted
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals threw a wrench into the gears of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this week, and for good reason.
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Free the Economy podcast: Subsidies for billionaires with David McGarry
In this week’s episode we cover White House intervention in corporate ownership, the nation’s falling economic freedom ranking, and welcome new…
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The current state of pharmaceutical tariffs
Background Amid the Trump trade upheaval, pharmaceutical products receive different treatment than many other US imports. Pharmaceuticals are treated differently for reasons such as their…
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Virginia regulations guarantee secret ballots for public sector union elections
New regulations from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry on “Local Government Union Requirements and Employee Protections” became effective July 30, 2025. An…
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Antitrust abuse threatens America’s AI dominance
On July 14, 2025, Jensen Huang, CEO of Santa Clara-based NVIDIA, and President Donald Trump agreed to allow NVIDIA to resume its exports to…