All eyes in Washington, D.C., are turning to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to cut Obama- and Biden-era federal regulations now that the choking price tag for the current administration’s red tape has been partially tabulated.
According to American Action Forum, the cost of President Joe Biden’s significant regulations pushed on America by several agencies is $1.8 trillion, a shocking amount when compared to the $1.2 billion Trump’s regulations cost.
Even former President Barack Obama kept his regulatory burden to under $500 billion.
“It’s quite a number,” said Dan Goldbeck, the director of regulatory policy at American Action Forum. And, he added, Team Biden still plans to jam through more rules before turning the keys of the government over to Trump.
Besides breaking the cost burden on America with his regulations, Biden is on a path to bust the record of publishing those rules in the Federal Register, America’s handbook of red tape. According to Clyde Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the total this year is already in second place at 89,476 pages.
Obama has the record at 95,894, but with two months to go in the Biden administration and promises of more rules coming, Biden is expected to burst through that ceiling.
Already there are calls for Congress to nix recent Biden regulations through the arcane Congressional Review Act. The unique tool allows Congress to overturn rules pushed out by the swamp — forever.
Every Biden-appointed agency head should also be on notice. Any final rules that are rushed through in a lame-duck period can be disapproved under the Congressional Review Act.
It’s not just a repeal. It bans the agency from ever issuing a substantially similar rule again. https://t.co/aJNvRQZgcX
— Sean Cooksey (@SeanJCooksey) November 7, 2024
The CRA and regulations is a favorite of Sean Cooksey, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission. He has been tweeting calls for Congress to trigger the act.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
“Every Biden-appointed agency head should also be on notice. Any final rules that are rushed through in a lame-duck period can be disapproved under the Congressional Review Act. It’s not just a repeal. It bans the agency from ever issuing a substantially similar rule again,” he posted on X.
Cooksey told Secrets, “One of President Trump’s greatest opportunities next year is to cut the Biden administration’s red tape and to free American people and businesses from the bureaucracy. I expect that President Trump and the Republican Congress will use all the tools at their disposal, including the powerful Congressional Review Act.”