Dollars saved by measures yet to be seen

President Donald Trump “has signed more laws cutting through federal red tape than any president in American history and has already saved businesses and families up to $18 billion in red tape costs every year.” — Vice President Mike Pence on July 18 in a speech

Experts we spoke with said that other presidents have cut through more red tape than Trump so far, citing the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, as well as President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s deregulation of such previously heavily regulated industries as air travel, trucking, banking and telecommunications.

However, many of these measures were taken through federal agencies, or constituted a single law, whereas Pence cited a record number of laws passed. Pence’s spokesperson Marc Lotter said Trump had signed 14 Congressional Review Act measures compared with one previously. He’s right. The $1.1 billion saved by the historic CRA measures checks out with the Federal Register data. What doesn’t check out is Pence’s statement that these dollars have already been saved. Trump was able to roll back these rules because they had been put in place at the end of the previous administration, which also means many of them hadn’t yet taken effect.

Our ruling

Trump did sign a record number of laws rolling back regulations under the Congressional Review Act, but that’s not the only way to count deregulatory action. Also, Pence is premature in using an $18 billion estimate of total savings. The deadlines for compliance for most of the measures he annulled had yet to go into effect. We rate this statement Half True.

ALEX BRANDON / AP Vice President Mike Pence says President Donald Trump has cut through more red tape “than any president in American history,” but the amount saved by doing so has yet to be determined.