Sponsors (3)
The bill trades tighter limits on net regulatory growth and greater transparency—aimed at reducing burdens on governments and businesses—for requirements that force repeal of existing rules and concentrate approval power, which risks weakening protections, slowing needed regulations, shifting costs to taxpayers, and raising sovereignty and compliance concerns.
State and local governments and small businesses face fewer new net regulatory costs because major federal rules generally cannot be issued unless agencies repeal at least three existing rules (one-in-three-out requirement).
Taxpayers and policymakers get greater transparency because agencies must publish the specific rules they repeal and the federal government will produce regular counts and estimated economic costs of federal rules.
Congress and oversight bodies receive up-to-date information to evaluate regulatory burdens and better target reform or simplification efforts through mandated reporting on rule counts and costs.
Taxpayers and the general public could lose health, safety, or environmental protections because agencies may have to eliminate existing protections or programs to issue new regulations under the repeal requirement.
Federal employees, state governments, and regulated entities could see needed regulations slowed or blocked because agencies must locate and complete repeal of three prior rules and obtain OIRA cost certification before issuing new major rules.
Federal rulemaking independence may be weakened and political control centralized because OIRA obtains decisive certification authority over whether new major rules are cost-equivalent to repealed rules.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires federal agencies to repeal at least three existing rules that are, where practicable, related to any new rule before issuing the new rule. For major rules, agencies must repeal at least three related rules and ensure the new major rule’s projected cost is no greater than the combined cost of the repealed rules, with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs certifying the cost comparison. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on the number and estimated economic cost of rules in effect within one year of enactment and every five years thereafter.
Introduced January 8, 2025 by Eric Stephen Schmitt · Last progress January 8, 2025