EXCLUSIVE — House Republicans are seeking to codify President Donald Trump‘s proposal to cut 10 regulations for every one added to the federal register.
Rep. David Taylor (R-OH) will introduce a bill on Thursday that would require federal agencies to repeal 10 regulations before issuing a new one. Under Trump’s first administration, he implemented a policy to cut two regulations for each created.
“The American people need real leadership to rein in regulation that has burdened
businesses and families for far too long,” Taylor said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “The ‘Regulation Decimation Act’ does just that by requiring ten regulations to be eliminated with the implementation of every new one.”
The bill would not allow agencies to issue a major rule unless the agency has repealed 10 or more rules related to the major rule and unless the cost of the new rule is “less than or equal to the cost of the rules repealed,” according to the legislative text exclusively shared with the Washington Examiner.
The legislation would also require the head of every agency to submit a report to both Congress and the Office of Management and Budget that reviews every rule from their agency and whether that rule is “costly, ineffective, duplicative, or outdated” within 90 days.
“With President Trump spearheading critical change from the Executive Office, House Republicans are well-positioned to advance conservative policies and reject woke and wasteful actions that have permeated our Nation under the Biden-Harris Administration,” said Taylor. “This is a critical step toward cutting through rules implemented by Washington bureaucrats and returning the federal government to one of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
If passed, the Regulation Decimation Act would also require the president in five years to submit a report to Congress on the number of rules in effect and the status of the reduction of regulations over the previous five years.
Reps. Mark Harris (R-NC), Michael Rulli (R-OH), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Mike Collins (R-GA), and Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ) co-sponsored the legislation.
Trump heavily campaigned on deregulating the federal government throughout the 2024 campaign cycle, promising to repeal several Biden-era regulations if he was reelected. As part of his pledge to cut down on federal regulations, Trump floated the idea of increasing his first-term deregulation policy to cut 10 regulations for every one.
“I’m proud to be the only president in modern history to achieve a net regulatory reduction during my term, and it was a substantial reduction,” Trump said during a speech at the Economic Club of New York last year. “I’m pledging today that in my second term, we will eliminate a minimum of 10 old regulations for every one new regulation.”
He continued, “We’ll be able to do that quite easily, actually.”
Trump has signed a number of executive orders since being sworn in as the 47th president on Monday, including implementing a regulatory freeze that halts all agencies from proposing or issuing any rule until it can be reviewed by a Trump administration official. The executive order also directed agencies to consider delaying rules that have been issued but not implemented for 60 days.
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As part of his plans to reduce government spending and regulations, Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is headed by top ally Elon Musk.
However, Trump and congressional Republicans are also expected to use the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to cancel recently imposed regulations, to eliminate several rules implemented by the Biden administration.
Zach Halaschak contributed to this report.
