Politics

Biden Admin Has Already Imposed $318 Billion In Regulations In First Two Years

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The Biden administration imposed 517 regulations costing $318 billion in its first two years, according to the American Action Forum.

These new regulations were heavily concentrated in the Treasury Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, though regulations were imposed by numerous agencies, according to the AAF. Biden has outpaced the first two years of former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama, who created regulatory burdens of -$2 billion and $208 billion respectively. 

The following table provides the cumulative totals of final rules containing some quantified economic impact from each administration through this point in their respective terms. #WeekInReghttps://t.co/kGNfJ6CfKQ pic.twitter.com/CnpfJqhIrs

— American Action Forum (@AAF) February 27, 2023

Regulatory costs have continued to rise after Jan 21, the two-year anniversary of Biden’s inauguration, according to AFF’s most recent data; in 2023 federal agencies have imposed 30 regulations costing an estimated $41.3 billion.

Total regulatory costs on the economy add up to about $2 trillion or 8% of the GDP, Wayne Crews, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told The Wall Street Journal. This comes out to about $14,684 and is nearly the size of France’s entire GDP, according to Crews.

Federal agencies’ rulemaking process is outpacing Congress’ lawmaking; Congress has the constitutional authority to create laws and passed 247 in 2022, while federal agencies added 3,168 rules to the Federal Register that year, according to Crews. In 2021 Congress passed 143 laws and federal agencies created 3,168 rules, including last-minute rules from the Trump administration.

The White House did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.