The House Freedom Caucus released a report Wednesday: “The First 100 Days: Rules, Regulations and Executive Orders to Examine, Revoke and Issue,” with more than 200 federal rules and regulations that President-elect Donald J. Trump could wipe off the books as soon as he takes office Jan. 20.
“These last eight years, we have seen a disturbing trend of the federal government unnecessarily inserting themselves more and more into the lives of hardworking Americans – and the results have been economically disastrous,” said Rep. Mark R. Meadows (R.-N.C.), who is slated to take over the leadership of the House Freedom Caucus in the next session of Congress.
One of the 232 rules and regulations the caucus targets is the National Organic Standards Board, a program that costs the organic food industry $256 million, with a board that meets twice-a-year, as it did in November at the historic Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.
Two rules the Securities and Exchange Commission issued in July would save business a tremendous amount of money. Eliminating the “Rules for Security Swap Dealers” would save businesses $210 million, and getting rid of the SEC’s rules for “Business Continuity Plans” would lift a burden of $1.4 billion.
Some of the rules and regulations could be done with the stroke of the pen, such as rules published in August for the National Environmental Policy Act, which the president could simply rescind. The same is true for closing the Export-Import Bank, which was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt by Executive Order 6581. According to the report, the Congressional Budget Office pegs losses from the bank at $2 billion.
Regulations associated with “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Effciency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles-Phase 2” cost the economy $11 billion, the report said.
Many of the suggestions were not about costs, but about changing course with policy, such as moving the American Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would presumably cost more money than it would save. The move has been a familiar campaign promise for other candidates, but it looks like one Trump is committed to keeping–based on Thursday’s announcement that attorney David Friedman would be Trump’s envoy to Israel.
Friedman said, “I am deeply honored and humbled by the confidence placed in me by President-elect Trump to represent the United States as its Ambassador to Israel. I intend to work tirelessly to strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”
Another foreign policy objective would be achieved when Trump takes the United States out of international programs that fund and encourage abortion, the so-called Mexico City Policy. President Ronald W. Reagan banned federal support for international abortion programs, but the policy was overturned by President William J. Clinton in 1993, reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001, and then reversed by President Barack Obama Jan. 23, 2009.
Nineteen of the actions suggested in the report would reverse the president’s amnesty for illegal aliens, along with directions to prosecutors that they pass on bringing illegal aliens into the courts.
Not all the targeted rules were established by Democrats. One of the recommendations would reverse Bush’s Executive Order 13233, which restricts access to presidential records–a rule supported by Obama.
Meadows has been in touch with members of the Presidential Transition Team and he intends to encourage and work with the new administration to roll back these regulations within the first 100 days of the president-elect’s term.
“When the American people spoke on Nov. 8, they provided conservatives with an opportunity to restore order in our government and to remove the out-of-control bureaucratic red tape that so often stunts the growth of otherwise successful Americans,” the congressman said.
“My colleagues and I look forward to helping President-elect Trump in any way we can as we work toward the most productive ‘first 100 days’ in modern history,'” Meadows said. “To the working people, who have felt the burden of these last eight years so heavily — help is on the way.”
https://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/809151866068201473
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