During the beginning on his second administration, President Trump signed Executive Order 14192, directing agencies to eliminate ten regulations for each new one and to cap their total incremental costs.
Last year, the Administration not only met deregulatory goals but far exceeded them, delivering historic deregulatory achievements across the board.
According to the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the Administration finalized 129 deregulatory actions for each regulatory action:
- In total, agencies finalized 646 deregulatory actions compared to only 5 regulatory actions, for a ratio of 129-to-1, dramatically exceeding the President’s 10-to-1 target.
- These actions have realized $211.8 billion in net cost savings, over $600 per American.
These numbers demonstrate just how serious this Administration is about unleashing the full potential of the American economy.
The most substantial deregulation effort was the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) rule on Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision, reducing compliance costs by $128.6 billion. The rule eliminated burdensome, unnecessary disclosure requirements. Further, the simple ending of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) shoe removal requirement is now saving $25.4 billion.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also took steps to strengthen critical innovation in medical devices and laboratory testing, eliminating $20.3 billion in compliance costs. This is especially important, as China continues to close the gap with the United States in key biotechnological advances. China’s share of global biotechnology venture capital raised grew from a mere 3.5 percent in 2010 to 18.9 percent in 2020. At the same time, the U.S. share declined from about 68.6 percent to 62.1 percent.
These examples highlight only a fraction of the much-needed deregulatory action taken over the past year.
OMB Director Russ Vought outlined the gravity of these actions:
“The Trump Administration’s deregulatory agenda is the most ambitious in American history… We have blown far past the target 10 to 1 deregulatory ratio in President Trump’s Executive Order, saving hundreds of billions for the American people… In less than one year we have already achieved more savings than in all four years of the prior Trump Administration, and we’re just getting started.”
President Trump and his team understand that the free market simply needs space to breathe. Because of this important deregulation, Americans can expect higher wages, more available jobs, and lower prices. Shockingly, these gains were achieved in just this Administration’s first year. As Director Vought said, this is only the beginning.
Deregulation efforts on the horizon are also exciting.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced last year that the agency was taking 31 distinct actions to roll back harmful regulations, including the 2009 Endangerment Finding.
Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, praised these efforts:
“Administrator Zeldin’s bold deregulatory action at EPA will unleash American energy and reduce costs for American families. The Obama administration’s faulty Endangerment Finding has been used as justification for years to stifle the production and use of energy in America. Thanks to President Trump and Administrator Zeldin, the government’s expensive web of overregulation is being unwoven.”
Since 2009, the agency has used the Endangerment Finding to justify seven different regulations placed on vehicles, totaling more than $1 trillion in aggregate costs. If successful in rolling back these costly regulations, the Administration would be responsible for one of the biggest deregulatory actions in U.S. history.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is also looking at rolling back Biden-era Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards, reducing the required fleetwide average from 50.4 miles per gallon (as Biden mandated) to 34.5 mpg by 2031. As the Institute for Energy Research outlines, this change could “reduce average vehicle costs by $930 and save Americans $109 billion over five years by making vehicles more affordable.”
The Trump Administration’s deregulatory achievements over the past year are beyond impressive and prove a deep commitment to letting the American economy thrive.
As Director Vought emphasized, this is only the beginning. By continuing to pursue deregulation, the U.S. can grow its economy by allowing Americans to innovate and prosper. The result is a stronger, more competitive, and more prosperous nation.
