Trump set to tout deregulation push

President Donald Trump is set to tout his administration’s efforts to roll back federal regulations on Monday, with a speech claiming that existing rule reversals and delays have already eliminated an estimated $300 million in annual costs.

Trump’s White House address — followed by “Cut the Red Tape” events at 10 federal agencies — will highlight the administration’s view that reversing, delaying and rewriting rules is helping spur economic growth, jobs and innovation, said Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

“In the process of rolling back regulations, we’re really looking to find regulations that are no longer working, that are duplicative or ineffective,” Rao told reporters in a briefing Friday.

Trump has vowed to slash unnecessary, “job-killing” rules across the federal government. The president directed his department heads to kill two regulations for each new one they issue and ordered agencies to cap the costs of new rules.

While the Trump administration has begun rewriting and delaying a suite of rules, including regulations enacted under President Barack Obama governing carbon dioxide emissions and hydraulic fracturing, just 10 major rule-makings have been finalized since he took office, according to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs records.

A proposed delay of key portions of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule setting standards for brokers and dealers is among the changes driving the White House’s estimate of $300 million in annual savings.

Public interest groups say the administration is going too far in its zeal to chisel away at the regulatory state.

“Trump and the Republican party’s attacks on regulation are hurting regular Americans and setting the stage for large-scale deregulatory disasters,” Public Citizen said in a memo to reporters. The effort “represents a craven attempt at self-enrichment and payback to corporate donors.”

Trump’s deregulation agenda has been cheered by some lobbying groups that say a tangle of federal rules impose burdens on small businesses. The National Association of Manufacturers, North America’s Building Trades Unions and other groups last week formed a Coalition for Regulatory Innovation to push for regulatory changes that return more power to Congress and force agencies to disclose the data and analysis behind their measures.