Regulatory Action Center Review – February 5, 2021
RACtivists by the Numbers
RACtivists submitted 1,346 comments to the Department of Energy on their proposal to create a new class of more efficient clothes washers and dryers. These accounted for all but 43 of the total comments submitted to that docket.
Four Things to Know
1) Biden Taking Executive Action at Record Pace
After just two weeks in office, President Biden has demonstrated that he is not afraid to use the power of the pen. Since Inauguration, Biden has signed 28 separate Executive Orders (EO’s) and taken 16 other executive actions, including a regulatory freeze on all pending regulations. According to analysis by The Economist, President Biden signed more EO’s in his first two days than President Trump did in his first two months. A significant portion of these actions are geared towards undoing unilateral actions taken by the Trump administration.
More resources on this:
Read the Executive Orders on the White House website: HERE
2) Biden’s Early Actions Present “Sea Change” in Regulatory Process
As part of a broader regulatory blitz, President Biden has already signed several actions regarding the regulatory process, many of which simply revoke process changes made by the Trump administration. These changes represent a complete about face in regulatory policy away from the deregulatory agenda of President Trump. In contrast to the Trump administration, George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center notes that these actions by the Biden administration “[exhibit] no concern for the potential unintended consequences of acting too aggressively.”
More resources on this:
Read about the regulatory freeze: HERE
Read how Biden plans to “Modernize Regulatory Review:” HERE
Read the Executive Order on Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation: HERE
3) Senate Begins to Confirm Biden’s Cabinet
Although there are many more confirmations to come, the Senate has not delayed in confirming the first members of Biden’s Cabinet. Understandably, the first votes centered around national security, confirming Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to be Secretary of Defense, Antony Blinken as Secretary of State, and Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security. The Senate has also confirmed Janet Yellen as Secretary of the Treasury, and Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation.
More resources on this:
Read more about the confirmation of Biden’s cabinet: HERE
Read about the Senate confirmation process: HERE
4) Trump Administration Lowered Regulatory Costs
Recent analysis shows that the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda significantly reduced the federal regulatory burden, resulting in a net total of $40.4 billion in regulatory costs, or around $10.1 billion annually. What’s more, when the costs of independent agencies are excluded, the Trump administration produced an estimated net regulatory savings of around $1 billion. While American families and businesses still incurred significant regulatory costs, these costs are only around one-tenth of the regulatory costs born under the Obama administration which averaged over $110 billion in annual regulatory costs.
More resources on this:
Read more about regulatory cost savings: HERE
RAC Resources
You can always find all RAC content (blogs, updates, press releases, and comment campaigns) HERE.
You can always sign up to become an elite RACtivist, if you haven’t already, HERE.
