Draining the Regulatory Swamp

15 CRAs: ‘Reducing The Size, Scope, And Cost Of Federal Regulations’

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “For many decades, an ever-growing maze of regulations, rules, restrictions has cost our country trillions and trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, countless American factories, and devastated many industries…. We’ve begun the most far-reaching regulatory reform in American history…. And you see the results when you look at the stock market, when you look at the results of companies, and when you see companies coming back into our country…. We are now reducing the size, scope, and cost of federal regulations for the first time in decades, and we are already seeing the incredible results.” (“Remarks by President Trump on Deregulation,” 12/14/2017)

“President Donald Trump’s inauguration gave congressional Republicans a once-in-a-generation opportunity to erase a spate of late Obama-era regulations — and they used it to make a significant dent …never before have lawmakers made such dramatic use of the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers and the White House to kill recently enacted regulations…” (“GOP Onslaught On Obama’s ‘Midnight Rules’ Comes To An End,” Politico, 5/7/2017)

“The Congressional Review Act … represents the most consequential legislative action of President Trump’s first 100 days, an easily overlooked but significant accomplishment, a step toward keeping Trump’s and the congressional GOP’s promises to reduce regulations from Washington.” (“Congressional Review Action!” National Review, 5/3/2017)

• “…most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan: President Trump has embarked on the most aggressive campaign against government regulation in a generation, joining with Republican lawmakers to roll back rules already on the books…” (“Trump Undertakes Most Ambitious Regulatory Rollback Since Reagan,” The Washington Post, 2/12/2017)

• “…a historic reversal of government rules in record time. Mr. Trump has used the review act as a regulatory wrecking ball... The effort has surpassed its architects’ most ambitious hopes.” (“Trump Discards Obama Legacy, One Rule at a Time,” The New York Times, 5/1/2017)

“[T]he president seems to be pushing a minor revolution of sorts, as he repeals all sorts of rules that once impeded the economy. And he's not done yet. The Competitive Enterprise Institute claimed ‘Trump ends fiscal year as America's least-regulatory president since Reagan.’ It's no exaggeration. As the CEI has noted, Trump froze regulations early in his term and argued that up to 70% of regulations were simply unnecessary. He set a tone, and he's lived up to it. Consider this: The Federal Register, the bible of federal rules, peaked at record high 97,110 pages under President Obama in 2016. Today, under President Trump, it stands at 45,678 pages.” (Editorial, “Lots Of Presidents Talked About Getting Rid Of Bad Regulations — Trump Is Actually Doing It,” Investor’s Business Daily, 10/02/2017)