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Lawsuit by Texas, Utah could change small reactor regulation
The states of Texas and Utah—along with Last Energy, a company that builds small modular reactors—are suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), arguing that it…
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Tossing gold bars off the Titanic is just the tip of the IRA iceberg
The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rushed to dole out billions of taxpayer dollars before President Donald Trump took office. A former Biden EPA official…
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Free the Economy podcast: Defend yourself from debanking with Nick Anthony
In this week’s episode we discuss public confidence in the economy, California’s electric vehicle mandate, the prospect of a sovereign wealth fund…
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Trump executive order puts independent agencies on a leash
President Trump’s new executive order, “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” marks a major shift in regulatory oversight by bringing independent agencies…
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Trump labor secretary pick backs right to work, disavows past support for union-tilted PRO Act
President Trump’s pick to be labor secretary, former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, disavowed her past support for the union-tilted …
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CEI to Supreme Court: Please don’t let executive branch set tax rates
Yesterday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to recognize that only Congress has the authority to write the…
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Trump says labor law cannot prevent him from cleaning house at labor umpire agency
President’s Trump’s letter firing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairwoman Gwynne Wilcox and the NLRB’s general Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, makes the bold claim that…
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Animal personalities, individualism, and economics
One of my hobbies is finding economics in unexpected places. The biologist and animal rescuer John Shivik’s 2017 book Mousy Cats and Sheepish Coyotes: The…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: flax revenue and female test dummies
President Trump announced reciprocal tariffs. At this point it is uncertain how they would be implemented. Agencies issued new regulations ranging from butterfat testing to…
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Free the Economy podcast: Pivot or Die with Gary Shapiro
In this week’s episode we discuss corporate DEI mandates, financial surveillance at the Securities and Exchange Commission, medical fraud among Alzheimer’s…
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Goodbye to the roaring twenties of regulation? A cost roundup
The final Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations from the Biden administration appeared January 15. Here at the middle…
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Sovereign wealth funds: Should governments invest in private businesses?
President Trump recently signed an executive order to study creating a sovereign wealth fund for the US government. If the proposal comes to pass,…
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Trio of agencies scrap their climate disclosure mandate, SEC should take note
Prior to Inauguration Day 2025, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Service Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) collectively withdrew a…
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Big tech: threat or America’s best hope in global AI race? Questions for Trump antitrust appointees
Continued scrutiny of tech companies by antitrust authorities is expected under the Trump administration, with two new nominees awaiting confirmation to the Department of…
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Free speech at risk: Why website blocking bill goes too far
Content creators have long complained about copyright infringing websites that deprive them of compensation. The Motion Picture Association claims infringement costs “hundreds of thousands…
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Free the Economy podcast: Improving state finances with OJ Oleka
In this week’s episode we interview OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation. We talk about how the new administration…
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No, Virginia, there was no Amazon worker strike
The labor protests launched by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters against Amazon over the Christmas holiday were nothing more than a hollow …
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Clothes dryers and nuclear reactors
It was a slow week for the Federal Register and a busy week for everything else. President Trump announced 25 percent blanket tariffs against Canada…
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Bill would delist Yellowstone grizzlies again
Last month, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced legislation, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act, which directs the Secretary of Interior to delist the…
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We’re out of the Paris Agreement—again! How Trump can make it stick
On Inauguration Day (January 20, 2025), President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, the global climate treaty negotiated by the…
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Congressional Review Act can cancel three bad appliance regs
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is the easiest way for Congress to block some of the bad regulations enacted under the Biden administration. A resolution…
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House should support the Protecting American Energy Production Act
This week the House of Representatives is expected to consider the Protecting American Energy Production Act (H.R. 26), which was introduced by Rep.
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Senate debanking hearing should focus on government’s role in politicizing finance
Today the Senate Banking Committee is holding a hearing on debanking, which is the phenomenon of individuals and businesses in certain industries and with certain…
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Agenda for Congress: Regulation
CEI’s new Agenda for Congress is out now. Each chapter contains pro-market policy recommendations in areas where CEI has expertise. Here are four principles…
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Zero to prosperity? New Trump executive order is a good start
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought a wave of executive orders, including his new “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation” directive. Building on…
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The good, the bad, and the ugly in Trump’s new regulation executive order
President Donald Trump issued a new executive order on regulation Friday reviving some of the core ideas from his first term. The order brings…
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Trump’s unilateral tariffs: Time for Congress to do its job
Over the weekend, President Trump announced 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, though Canadian energy imports will face a lower 10 percent rate. He…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Automatic brakes and horse protection amendments
Sixty-seven people died when a military helicopter and a passenger jet collided near Reagan Airport. President Trump issued an Executive Order to stop all federal…
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Agenda for Congress: Inflation
CEI’s new Agenda for Congress is out now. Each chapter contains pro-market policy recommendations in areas where CEI has expertise. Here are the ones…
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Coinbase’s FOIA complaints against FDIC raise serious government transparency concerns
In the waning days of the Biden administration, whistleblowers and investigative journalists put forth alarming revelations of financial regulators jawboning banks to cut off services…
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The One Agency Act, so hot right now
The 119th Congress has reignited old conversations regarding antitrust enforcement in the US. Namely, do we need two agencies to enforce the antitrust laws? Rep.
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Agenda for Congress: Trade
CEI’s new Agenda for Congress is out now. Each chapter contains pro-market policy recommendations in areas where CEI has expertise. Here are the ones…
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Hawley offers gift to union leaders, not workers
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) reportedly has proposed a “pro-worker framework for the 119th Congress” that amounts to a watered down wishlist of items wanted by unions leaders.
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Free the Economy podcast: Trump vs. the Regulatory State with Susan Dudley
In this week’s episode we cover how the feds are forcing your bank to spy on you, a new strategy for housing…
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Trump sketches out a battle plan on housing affordability
Housing affordability has become a front burner issue, and President Trump spared no time setting out his plan targeting the government regulations and red tape…
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A game-changing Trump executive order could nuke regulatory dark matter
In the wake of Donald Trump’s flurry of executive actions—including implementing a regulatory freeze, eradicating Biden’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and staffing, and…
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Regulators need to cool off and slow down their rulemakings
Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) has reintroduced an important bill that would make the administrative rulemaking process fairer for the public. Known as the “Regulatory…
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Trump follows Biden precedent in sacking NLRB general counsel
President Trump’s decision to fire National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairwoman Gwynne Wilcox and general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is controversial and will likely be challenged…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Paper packaging and de minimis imports
Presidents Biden issued a slew of executive actions on his way out of office. President Trump issued a slew of executive actions on his way into office.
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What Trump has already done to advance sound energy policy
President Donald Trump has wasted no time in seeking to undo the harm of President Joe Biden’s energy and environmental policy. Through his presidential actions,…
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Free the Economy podcast: Able Americans with Rachel Barkley
In this week’s episode we cover Trump’s executive orders, the demographics of the 119th Congress, our nation’s narrowing fiscal space, reforms…
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DOGE at a crossroads – An opportunity for real regulatory reform
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began with a promise to revolutionize Washington, bringing a chainsaw to government with sweeping regulatory and budget cuts. However,…
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Cracks in the regulatory freezeout
On the first afternoon of his second term, President Donald Trump signed 46 executive orders. They included welcome tools for restraining the administrative state. Among…
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Risks remain after Congress’s deregulatory net neutrality choice is affirmed
This past decade’s net neutrality saga recently received much needed clarity thanks to the federal 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Its decision rules on the…
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Trump’s new Schedule F executive order is smarter, but could still backfire
President Trump’s re-instatement of his “Schedule F” executive order, making it easier to fire career federal employees,…
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Trump executive orders target Biden’s regulatory big bang
Joe Biden wrapped up his term with a parting regulatory surge, epitomized by today’s 872-page Federal Register—marking the apex of his aggressive midnight-rule push.
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Animal herders and delaying REAL ID
President Biden’s final Federal Register week was a busy one. Its 4,199 pages would make for a 209,950-page year if it sustained that pace. CEI…
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Caution warranted on Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
Next week, as soon as President-elect Donald Trump takes office, there will be a sea change in government policy towards cryptocurrency. Through executive orders and…
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President Trump should revoke these 7 energy and environment executive orders
On Monday, President Donald Trump will begin his second term. He will be very busy in part because he needs to start undoing President Joe…
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DOGE should investigate Biden’s natural capital accounts
With an incoming Congress and president at the helm, Republicans are taking aim at problematic Biden-era regulations. In concert with the Department of Government Efficiency…