President Trump signed a new executive order Friday called “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” which calls for agencies to identify and eliminate ten existing regulations for each new regulation created. 

“The ever-expanding morass of complicated Federal regulation imposes massive costs on the lives of millions of Americans, creates a substantial restraint on our economic growth and ability to build and innovate, and hampers our global competitiveness. Despite the magnitude of their impact, these measures are often difficult for the average person or business to understand, as they require synthesizing the collective meaning not just of formal regulations but also rules, memoranda, administrative orders, guidance documents, policy statements, and interagency agreements that are not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act, further increasing compliance costs and the risk of costs of non-compliance,” the order states.

It is the policy of my Administration to significantly reduce the private expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations to secure America’s economic prosperity and national security and the highest possible quality of life for each citizen.

The order requires that “Unless prohibited by law, whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least 10 existing regulations to be repealed.”

It further requires that “any new incremental costs associated with new regulations shall, to the extent permitted by law, be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at least 10 prior regulations.”

Agency heads are directed to ensure that the total incremental cost of any new regulations “shall be significantly less than zero.”

The Office of Management and Budget Director is directed to oversee and set guidance on new regulations under the new law.

The President has long committed to and campaigned on deregulation to foster economic growth and prosperity.

In 2017, President Trump signed a similar executive order, requiring agencies to eliminate “at least two prior regulations” before implementing a new one. Biden revoked Trump’s past deregulation order on his first day in office in 2021.

The White House issued the following fact sheet explaining the new executive order:

ELIMINATING 10 REGULATIONS FOR EACH NEW REGULATION ISSUED: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to unleash prosperity through deregulation.

• The Order requires that whenever an agency promulgates a new rule, regulation, or guidance, it must identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed.
• The Director of the Office of Management and Budget will ensure standardized measurement and estimation of regulatory costs.
• It requires that for fiscal year 2025, the total incremental cost of all new regulations, including repealed regulations, be significantly less than zero.

HALTING THE REGULATORY ONSLAUGHT: President Trump will halt the job killing and inflation-driving regulatory blitz of the Biden Administration.

• The Biden Administration imposed a historic $1.7 trillion in costs on the American people.
• Overregulation stops American entrepreneurship, crushes small business, reduces consumer choice, discourages innovation, and infringes on the liberties of American citizens.
  • It also contributes to the high cost of living, including by driving up energy prices.

BUILDING ON PAST SUCCESS:  President Trump’s first Administration undertook the most aggressive and successful regulatory reduction effort in history.

• In his first term, President Trump asked the agencies to eliminate two regulations for each one new regulation issued.  Not only was this 2-for-1 goal achieved, the first Trump Administration eliminated five and a half regulations for everyone new regulation issued.

• This Executive Order builds on President Trump’s previous success to improve daily lives of the American people by reducing unnecessary, burdensome, and costly Federal regulations.