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Stopping the Administrative State
When the DOJ and Jeff Sessions rolled back 25 “guidance documents” last Tuesday, I was especially encouraged that we may finally be taking back governance and stopping the administrative state from acting like lawmakers. At first I was simply pleased that the “guidelines” from the Obama Administration on affirmative action were being removed. Then I realized that this action was part of a complex but powerful strategy of putting governance in the hands of the President and Congress; other steps have also been taken to tell bureaucrats that they are responsible for enacting legislation, not making it.
The larger strategy has been evident since President Trump took office. For example, the work that Scott Pruitt has been doing and that will be continued by Andrew Wheeler has been remarkable. At least 76 environmental rules are in the process of being eliminated, according to the New York Times. As of this past December, Trump’s plan to eliminate regulations at a 2:1 ratio has been exceeded and is continuing, according to the White House:
Agencies plan on achieving even more regulatory rollbacks in FY 2018 compared with FY 2017, and plan to issue at least three deregulatory actions for every one new regulation.
In this Administration, agencies have withdrawn or delayed 1,579 planned regulatory actions.
- 635 regulations were withdrawn.
- 244 regulations were made inactive.
- 700 regulations were delayed.
There are also ambitious plans to streamline government. The office of Management and Budget recently released a list of 32 proposals to reform and reorganize the government, including merging the Education and Labor Departments.
Other Presidents have tried to streamline government and get rid of waste, with mixed results. The pushback in many agencies will make this process extremely difficult; already there are many bureaucrats who are looking for ways to increase regulations without consideration of the 2:1 ratio rule. My hope, though, is that the Department Heads will watch this process carefully and hold people accountable for ignoring the new rules. Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed this goal well in an announcement he made last December about Executive Branch rule making:
Last month, I ended the longstanding abuse of issuing rules by simply publishing a letter or posting a web page. Congress has provided for a regulatory process in statute, and we are going to follow it. This is good government and prevents confusing the public with improper and wrong advice.
Therefore, any guidance that is outdated, used to circumvent the regulatory process, or that improperly goes beyond what is provided for in statutes or regulation should not be given effect. That is why today, we are ending 25 examples of improper or unnecessary guidance documents identified by our Regulatory Reform Task Force led by our Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand. We will continue to look for other examples to rescind, and we will uphold the rule of law.
If these changes go through, that means that Congress will need to step up and do their jobs.
What else do you think needs to happen to help ensure the success of these challenging plans?
Published in Politics
The court needs to reverse the Chevron deference holding.
That would be a great place to start. That’s a big issue with Gorsuch as I recall. Thanks, @randywebster!
Anything that helps reduce the power of unelected bureaucrats and lobbyists in Washington will get my support. I was even willing to overlook Scott Pruitt’s questionable spending habits simply because he was doing a fantastic job of reducing regulations that hampered the economy. The same reason I accept the flaws of Trump, his bad habit of throwing out partial facts, his personal playboy behavior in years past and his coarse way of getting to the point.
I’m right with you @Sweezle; two men who trip on their own egos.
Your previous sentence is the answer.
That’s right. Congress needs to do its job.