Trump's Red Tape Cuts Are Overblown

摘要

"In the history of our country, no president, during their entire term, has cut more regulations than we've cut," President Trump boasted during a White House meeting with Republican leaders on Nov. 2. His press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, puts the total number of rules eliminated at almost 1,000, an astounding accomplishment for the slow-moving federal bureaucracy and an administration that's struggled to get things done in its first year. Government records tell a different story. Only a handful of regulations have been taken off the books, while the majority of rules the administration takes credit for ending weren't in effect anyway. The White House says it's killed or stalled 860 pending regulations. It's done this by withdrawing 469, listing an additional 109 as inactive, and relegating 282 to "long term." But those claims are exaggerated. Of the rules the White House says it has withdrawn, 42 percent were shelved before Trump took office. Others said to be shelved are still being developed by federal agencies. Still more were moot, because the actions sought in a pending rule were already in effect.