New rules added by the federal “swamp” during the Biden administration raised the “hidden tax” of regulations to $16,016 on households, a new record that President Donald Trump has pledged to cut.
Regulations pumped out by former President Joe Biden’s team in his last year also set a new cost record of $2.15 trillion, according to a new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
And that report, the much-anticipated annual “Ten Thousand Commandments” bible of federal regulations, said the price tag “was certainly an undercount” since identifying all new and old regulations is difficult.
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The new 146-page report, shared with Secrets, said that when compared to other costs families face, the impact of higher prices driven by federal regulations puts their cost above “healthcare, food, transportation, entertainment, apparel, services, and savings. Only the costs of housing, which stand at $25,436 annually, exceed regulation.”
Author Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., the regulations czar at CEI, told Secrets that Trump has already signaled that he plans to cut regulations, as he did in his first administration.
“The Biden era of ‘whole of government’ cross-sectoral regulation in net zero, equity and coercive justice schemes, the so-called ‘care economy,’ is over,” Crews said.
“Trump after just two months, in stark contrast to Biden, is defunding progressive advocacy sources within the federal government and defunding or at least deflating certain agencies in addition to promising larger spending cuts that we certainly hope materialize,” said Crews, the Fred L. Smith fellow in Regulatory Studies at the free-market advocacy outfit.
The number and costs of regulations have soared in recent years as presidents have turned to executive orders and agencies to implement their agendas in the face of uncooperative Congresses. What’s more, the aggressively liberal “swamp” has also moved on its own to implement costly regulations on industry and homes.
But Biden broke all the records, even in publishing the number of pages of regulations in the daily Federal Register, as he pledged to “transform how the economy works.” For example, he moved to end gasoline-powered cars and gas-fueled stoves.
Trump has begun to wipe elements of Biden’s record clear by, for example, lifting coming regulations on autos and limits on how much water flows out of showerheads.
Crews and CEI have been loud voices for deregulation, calling for reforms and pressuring Congress to step in and do its job of regulatory oversight.
FULL LIST OF TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS, ACTIONS, AND PROCLAMATIONS
He has warned for years about the costs associated with rules and regulations, and as Americans face the possibility of higher prices to cover Trump’s escalation of tariffs on imports, tackling federal agencies is even more important.
“Off-budget or not, these regulatory costs drag down the economy, much as overspending can. Just as consumers shoulder much of the corporate income tax and tariff burden, regulatory compliance costs and mandates borne by businesses percolate through the economy and materialize as higher prices, lost jobs, and lower output,” the new report said.