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Congress Can Put a Stop to the Current Administration’s Reckless Regulatory Spending

KEY FINDINGS

  • The Biden-Harris administration has added nearly 200 major regulations—those carrying an annual price tag of $100 million or more—to the books.
  • These regulations have added $1.7 trillion in new costs.
  • Costly and unconstitutional regulations are fueling the national debt crisis and inflation, contributing to a record debt of $35 trillion.
  • Congress can act to rein in this abuse of executive power and stop the out-of-control spending.
The Bottom Line: Federal lawmakers should rein in reckless regulatory spending by requiring congressional approval of major regulations.

Overview

In the U.S. system of checks and balances, Congress has the power to approve a budget and authorize federal spending, as well as make laws. Unfortunately, Congress has ceded some of its authority to unelected career bureaucrats who are accountable to nobody. The Biden-Harris administration has been on a record-setting regulation spree, which has impacted all Americans both by adding billions in compliance costs and by increasing direct government spending without the approval of Congress.1

Under the current administration’s watch, federal spending has spiraled out of control. The national debt is currently more than $35.1 trillion and is on track to exceed $50 trillion by 2034.2 During the Biden-Harris administration, the gross national debt has increased by more than $7.4 trillion, which translates to more than $5.6 billion in debt added every day.3-4 By 2054, the national debt is projected to reach $141.4 trillion, which will be 166 percent of GDP.5 In 2024, interest payments on the debt are projected to be more than $890 billion and by 2054, payments on interest alone will be the largest category of federal spending and consume 34 percent of tax revenue.6

High-interest payments hamper access to capital and hinder economic growth.7 Commercial and industrial loans are down by eight percent since 2023, stunting small business growth.8 Though inflation has cooled in recent months, since the start of this administration, inflation has reached a cumulative 20 percent.9 Higher input costs have forced small businesses to make cuts or raise prices, driving down consumer demand.10 And a majority of small business owners are concerned that they will have to close due to the current economic conditions.11 Worse still, if the Trump tax cuts are allowed to expire, which was a promise made by the Biden-Harris administration, small business owners will experience a 20 percent tax hike.12 Economic growth is stunted, and excessive government regulation is only exacerbating the problem.13

Under this administration, new regulatory costs have surged by nearly $1.7 trillion, which is greater than the entire annual discretionary appropriations that Congress must vote to enact.14-15 The administration has consistently failed to win congressional approval for far-left policies and has resorted to strongarming the American people with a powerful and unaccountable bureaucracy.

Burdensome and costly regulations have surged under the current administration

The regulatory burden on American businesses and families has grown significantly during the last three years. This administration issued 196 major regulations—those carrying an annual price tag of $100 million or more—in the first three years alone, outpacing every other administration in the last 30 years.16

In total, more than 990 regulations have been issued by this administration so far, adding more than 312 million paperwork hours in compliance.17 The Federal Register has swelled by more than 313,000 pages during this administration, an average of 1,674 new pages of regulations added to the regulatory code per week.18 Regulatory compliance imposes mandatory costs on businesses, an especially large burden for small business, which must devote a larger percentage of revenue to regulatory compliance compared to larger companies.19

The Biden-Harris administration’s regulatory spending spree is costing trillions

Since he took office, President Biden has issued regulations adding nearly $1.7 trillion in new regulatory costs.20 At the same point in his presidency, the Obama administration had added $311 billion in new costs, whereas during the Trump administration, there was $99.9 billion in savings stemming from regulation and deregulatory efforts.21

During his four years, President Trump had a net total of just $40 billion in regulatory costs.22 President Biden has already issued regulations that cost five times more than what President Obama spent, and more than 42 times what President Trump added.23 The cumulative cost of regulations on the economy has been on the rise since 2009 and topped $2.6 trillion under the leadership of the current administration.24-27

One example of this excessive regulatory spending is the Thrifty Food Plan increase—the largest permanent increase in food stamp benefits since the program was created.28 In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture changed the standards used to determine food stamp benefits, increasing benefits by 27 percent.29 This unilateral and illegal use of executive power will cost taxpayers up to $250 billion over the next decade.30

In another case of the administration taking executive action after failing to pass legislation through Congress, President Biden enacted several different schemes to transfer student debt from the debtholder to the taxpayers.31 These so-called student debt forgiveness actions have already cost taxpayers $620 billion.32 Recognizing the clear abuse of executive power, other costly student loan forgiveness schemes have been blocked by the courts.33 However, the Biden administration continues to subvert congressional intent and has proposed cancelling student loan debt at an additional cost of up to $750 billion.34

In April 2024, the Biden administration finalized the Medicaid streamlining rule, which removes state options to verify eligibility of enrollees and is projected to cost at least $200 billion.35 The new tailpipe emission standards finalized in April 2024 force vehicle manufacturers to comply with unrealistic environmental standards and comes at a cost of $870 billion.36

Despite the unprecedented level of regulation so far, this administration has no plans to stop. The unified regulatory agenda published by the White House in July 2024 lists more than 2,300 active regulatory actions that agencies plan to move forward with in the next 12 months.37 This includes nearly 900 significant regulations.38 Unelected bureaucrats of the administrative state are fueling the growing debt crisis and economic stagnation, largely unchecked by Congress.

Lawmakers should require congressional approval of major regulations

One way to rein in excessive regulation is to require congressional approval for new costly rules before they can take effect. Requiring Congress to approve a major regulation ensures that these rules have the support of the American people. This would limit new costly regulations and rein in spending, bringing down the deficit and helping to balance the federal budget. 

Additionally, Congress can help to regain control of federal spending by setting a regulatory budget. This would require each agency to offset the costs imposed by a new regulation by repealing regulations with equivalent costs. President Trump implemented this policy via executive order during his administration, which contributed to the relatively low levels of new regulatory costs added during his time in office.39

Other actions that Congress should pursue to bring down regulatory spending include clarifying that costly guidance is subject to the congressional oversight process, requiring that the Government Accountability Office conduct an economic analysis for new costly rules, and exempting major rules that would result in savings from the congressional review process to speed up deregulation and bring down the debt.40

THE BOTTOM LINE: Federal lawmakers should rein in reckless regulatory spending by requiring congressional approval of major regulations.

Federal spending and the deficit are unsustainably high, and regulatory costs have ballooned under the Biden-Harris administration. While Congress is supposed to hold the power of the purse, unelected bureaucrats have been on a record-breaking regulatory spree. The executive branch has become a tangled web of more than 400 agencies and sub-agencies responsible for a confusing jumble of regulations that both increase direct government spending and cost American individuals and businesses billions in compliance. Congress should act to rein in the executive overreaches of this administration, reduce regulatory costs, and protect the economy.  

REFERENCES

1. Michael Greibrok, “How Congress can rein in Biden bureaucrats’ spending spree,” Foundation for Government Accountability (2023), https://thefga.org/research/how-congress-can-rein-in-biden-bureaucrats-spending-spree.

2. Department of the Treasury, “What is the national debt,” Department of the Treasury (2024), https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-debt.

3. Associated Press, “Biden’s first 2 years in office, by the numbers,” PBS News (2023), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/bidens-first-2-years-in-office-by-the-numbers.  

4. Author’s calculations. 

5. Congressional Budget Office, “The long-term budget outlook: 2024-2054,” Congressional Budget Office (2024), https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60127.

6. Ibid. 

7. Liesel Crocker, “Congress must rein in runaway federal spending by enacting spending caps,” Foundation for Government Accountability (2024), https://thefga.org/research/congress-must-rein-in-runaway-federal-spending.

8. Stephen Moore, “Moore: Why small businesses hate Bidenomics,” The Boston Herald (2024), https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/05/01/moore-why-small-businesses-hate-bidenomics.

9. Megan Henney, “Inflation is up 20% since Biden took office,” Fox Business (2024), https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/inflation-up-20-percent-since-biden-took-office.

10. Alfred Ortiz, “Small businesses face major hurdles due to Biden policies,” Highland Country Press (2024), https://highlandcountypress.com/opinions/small-businesses-face-major-hurdles-due-biden-policies#gsc.tab=0.

11. Ibid. 

12. Ibid. 

13. Alli Fick et al., “Congress must rein in President Biden’s regulatory spending spree to tame inflation,” Foundation for Government Accountability (2022), https://thefga.org/research/congress-must-rein-spending-to-tame-inflation.

14. Dan Goldbeck, “Slim pickin’s in the heart of August,” American Action Forum (2024), https://www.americanactionforum.org/week-in-regulation/slim-pickins-in-the-heart-of-august/.

15. Congressional Budget Office, “Discretionary spending in fiscal year 2023: An infographic,” Congressional Budget Office (2024), https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59729.

16. Regulatory Studies Center, “Reg stats,” The George Washington University (2024), https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/reg-stats.

17. Ibid.   

18. Ballotpedia, “Changes to the Federal Register,” Ballotpedia (2024), https://ballotpedia.org/Changes_to_the_Federal_Register.

19. James Broughel, “The disproportionate burden of federal regulation on small businesses,” Competitive Enterprise Institute (2023), https://cei.org/congressional_testim/the-disproportionate-burden-of-federal-regulation-on-small-businesses.

20. Dan Goldbeck, “Slim pickin’s in the heart of August,” American Action Forum (2024), https://www.americanactionforum.org/week-in-regulation/slim-pickins-in-the-heart-of-august/.

21. Ibid. 

22. Dan Bosch, “Trump administration ends with $40 billion in regulatory costs,” American Action Forum (2021), https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/trump-administration-ends-with-40-billion-in-regulatory-costs.

23. Author’s calculations based on regulatory spending totals.

24. Dan Goldbeck, “Slim pickin’s in the heart of August,” American Action Forum (2024), https://www.americanactionforum.org/week-in-regulation/slim-pickins-in-the-heart-of-august/.

25. Dan Goldbeck, “2023: The year in regulation,” American Action Forum (2024), https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/2023-the-year-in-regulation.

26. Dan Bosch, “2022: The year in regulation,” American Action Forum (2023), https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/2022-the-year-in-regulation.

27. Dan Bosch, “2021” The year in regulation,” American Action Forum (2022), https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/2021-the-year-in-regulation.

28. Jonathan Ingram and Hayden Dublois, “President Biden unilaterally and unlawfully increased food stamp benefits,” Foundation for Government Accountability (2023), https://thefga.org/research/president-biden-increased-food-stamp-benefits.

29. Hayden Dublois and Michael Greibrok, “The Biden administration’s unlawful food stamp increase incentivized people to choose welfare over work,” Foundation for Government Accountability (2023), https://thefga.org/research/food-stamp-increase-incentivized-people-choose-welfare-over-work.

30. Ibid. 

31. Jill Jacobson, “The fate of student debt forgiveness will once again lie with the Supreme Court,” The Hill (2024), https://thehill.com/opinion/4591963-the-fate-of-student-debt-forgiveness-will-once-again-lie-with-the-supreme-court.

32. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “The total cost of student debt cancellation,” Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2024), https://www.crfb.org/blogs/total-cost-student-debt-cancellation.

33. Nate Raymond, “US judges block parts of Biden’s student loan relief plan,” Reuters (2024), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judges-block-parts-key-biden-student-debt-plan-2024-06-24.

34. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “The total cost of student debt cancellation,” Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2024), https://www.crfb.org/blogs/total-cost-student-debt-cancellation.

35. House Budget Committee, “President Biden’s executive actions have cost taxpayers over $2 trillion,” House Budget Committee (2024), https://budget.house.gov/press-release/president-bidens-executive-actions-have-cost-taxpayers-over-2-trillion.

36. Dan Goldbeck, “The biggest week on record,” American Action Forum (2024), https://www.americanactionforum.org/week-in-regulation/the-biggest-week-on-record.

37. Dan Goldbeck, “The Biden administration’s Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions,” American Action Forum (2024), https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/the-biden-administrations-spring-2024-unified-agenda-of-regulatory-actions.

38. Ibid.

39. Executive Order 13771 (2017), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-201700084/pdf/DCPD-201700084.pdf.

40. See Haley Holik and Alli Fick, “How lawmakers can rein in regulations like the student loan bailout,” Foundation for Government Accountability (2023), https://thefga.org/research/lawmakers-can-rein-in-regulations-like-student-loan-bailout.   

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