Regulations imposed by federal agencies under the Biden-Harris administration cost households at least $15,000 a year and the nation $2.1 trillion, a “swamp” tax that is more than families spend on food, clothing, and education, according to a new report.
As bad as those costs seem, they are likely much higher because the administration changed transparency rules after coming into office, hiding the impact of some regulations, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual report on the federal regulatory state, Ten Thousand Commandments .
“Biden's pursuit of various whole-of-government initiatives and transformation of OMB into a cheerleader for, rather than a watchdog over, regulation, I think he can greatly contribute to household costs far worse than what we imagine,” said the author of the report, CEI regulations expert Clyde Wayne Crews.
His report is eagerly anticipated by supporters of cutting red tape because it gives an accurate picture of the costs of federal rules and shows how federal bureaucrats have taken over the job of Congress, which is supposed to write regulations.
One key element of the report is the “Unconstitutionality Index,” which shows the number of rules approved by agencies for every law passed in Congress. In this year’s report, Crews found that agencies OK’d 3,018 final rules, though Congress passed only 68 regulatory laws, for a ratio of 44 regulations for every law.
The report also found 97 “economically significant” rules that cost the nation $100 million or more just in the past six months, “far exceeding the previous 10 years.”
The new report showed how Biden and Harris have sidestepped the political division in Congress to get their liberal programs through with executive orders and regulations.
And many of the new regulations have multiple costly rules that raise the costs on American businesses and families. “The tally of final rules for 2023 is the second lowest count since 1976, but the number of pages in the Federal Register detailing those rules is the second-highest tally on record. Fewer official rules but broader in scope!” Crews said.
“Regulatory compliance costs and mandates borne by businesses result in higher prices, lost jobs, and lower output,” Crews said, adding, “Regulations undermine the economic success of American businesses and households and drag down the economy. Congress should intervene and fix this problem.”
Crews and CEI have championed regulatory reform, which is unpopular in liberal bureaucratic circles in Washington. For example, former President Donald Trump faced difficulty maintaining his pledge as president to kill two regulations for every new one his administration imposed.
The report is the first on regulations to come after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn the “Chevron doctrine,” which called for courts to bow to federal agencies on regulatory matters.
At a hearing on the topic this month, Crews said, “The end of Chevron deference marks an overdue reaffirmation of separation of powers and a brake on over-delegation.”
He repeated his call on Congress to rein in regulations Capitol Hill has let run wild. “Correcting over-delegation is vital, but the real challenge is Congress’s own disregard for enumerated powers. Response requires decentralization, restoration of federalism, and ending the abuse of crises as occurred with COVID and the financial meltdown,” he told the House Committee on House Administration.
His report provides multiple avenues for reform.
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And it also suggested the path regulations will continue if no changes are made, either politically or technically.
Crews said, “Prior editions of Ten Thousand Commandments have detailed Trump’s streamlining effort (2021) and Biden’s reversals (2022, 2023) and framed the latter’s pursuit of ambitious whole-of-government spending and regulatory initiatives spanning climate, equity, economic, and social matters, as well as an appetite for censorship and surveillance. This 2024 edition sets a new high-water mark of $2.1 trillion. All previous estimates had the annual total cost of federal regulations below $2 trillion. Previous editions also explained why that figure was almost certainly an undercount.”
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