REDUCING REGULATIONS IN THE U.S.

It is important to reduce the regulations that federal agencies issue daily.  Businesses have to comply with these regulations.  It takes man-hours in H.R. departments, legal fees, and administrative costs, all of which take away from the essentials of the business such as production, manufacturing, and distribution.

In 2015 daily publication of the federal government’s rules, proposed rules and notices amounted to 81,611 pages. The regulations are printed in the Federal Register, also known as the Coder of Federal Regulations (CFR)

The major problem with US agency regulations is the lack of accountability by the agencies.

Congress has passed numerous laws and approved such agencies as the EPA, NLRA, Internal Revenue Code, OSHA, Social Security, and Obamacare.  Congress gives these agencies the power to issue regulations to administer, interpret, and enforce the laws.  This branch of the law is called administrative law, which means the regulations issued by the agencies.

This gives the president enormous power, because the president appoints the Cabinet and the heads of the agencies.  But it also removes a check on the actions of the agencies by the voters.

People elect Congress to pass the laws and can vote against congressmen, but they have no vote against the agencies.  An agency's regulations can be rejected by a majority vote of Congress, but this rarely happens. 

An agency regulation may also be challenged in federal court by an aggrieved party.  But the judicial standard to overturn a regulation favors the agency. The burden of proof lies on the person challenging the regulation, and most regulations are upheld by the courts.  But most regulations are not challenged, because it is expensive to litigate. Thus, Congress has given away to agencies much of its power to legislate.  Congress passes a broadly worded statute and tells the agency to fill in the blanks.

As part of reducing the issuance of regulations, a law should be passed by the President and the Congress  that shifts the burden of proof to the agencies, to prove that their regulations are reasonable.  They should allow mandatory attorney fees to anyone who challenges the regulation and wins. But more importantly, they should limit the scope of what an agency can rule, and Congress should approve every regulation issued by an agency.  This will involve Congress in the rulemaking activity of the agencies and restore to Congress its constitutional duties and authority. It is time for Congress and the president to take responsibility for the regulations issued by the agencies.