The Biden administration added billions in red tape costs last week despite the shortened work schedule, according to the American Action Forum (AAF).
Federal agencies published approximately $9.4 billion in regulatory costs from Jan. 16 to Jan. 19 even with the shortened work week with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, AAF reported on Monday. In total, the Biden administration has added $454.2 billion in regulatory costs since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, nearly double that of the former Obama administration at the same point and roughly 15 times more than the former Trump administration. (RELATED: Senate Votes To Overturn Biden EPA Rule On Heavy-Duty Vehicle Emissions)
The federal debt just passed $34 trillion.
Ten years ago, CBO predicted it would be $18.6 trillion by 2024. 😆😆🤡🤡 pic.twitter.com/3BL4LkA5XG
— Jon Miltimore (@miltimore79) January 2, 2024
The bulk of the new costs last week stemmed from the Department of Energy (DOE), which proposed to add $3.2 billion to the “Energy Conservation Standards for Fans and Blowers” program that centers around “air circulating fans” (ACFs), according to AAF. Approximately $5 billion in costs were finalized by the DOE last week for the “Energy Conservation Standards for Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers, and Freezers” initiative.
Roughly $6.8 billion in final costs and $4.7 billion in proposed costs have been published by the Biden administration since Jan. 1, with the overwhelming majority being added during the shortened work schedule last week, according to AAF. Those new costs will add 4.6 million in paperwork processing hours.
The total $454.2 billion in final costs under Biden has added 279.9 million hours in paperwork loads, according to AAF. Only $28.6 billion in costs and 65 million paperwork burden hours were added under former President Donald Trump; $274.4 billion and 189 hours were added under former President Barack Obama.
The Biden administration has used regulations to advance several left-wing policies, including strict energy and climate-related programs, sweeping student loan forgiveness programs and gun control initiatives. The national debt has increased over $6 billion since Biden took office in 2021, equaling out to roughly $47,000 per household in the United States.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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