Here’s How Biden’s Regulatory Agenda Stacks Up To Obama’s After 30 Months On The Job

Here’s How Biden’s Regulatory Agenda Stacks Up To Obama’s After 30 Months On The Job

Nick Pope on July 31, 2023

President Joe Biden’s regulatory agenda has proven to be even more costly than that of former President Barack Obama through the first 30 months of their respective presidencies, according to data released Monday by the American Action Forum (AAF), a policy analysis group that promotes free market solutions to policy issues.

Biden’s regulatory state has implemented 620 final rules totaling an estimated $395.5 billion in costs and 232.4 million paperwork hours, according to AAF’s data. Through two and a half years as president, Obama had issued 926 final regulatory rules amounting to approximately $222.4 billion and 145.6 million paperwork hours.

“President Biden wants changes so large, there’s no way that they would get through congress,” Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation, adding that Biden “has to turn to the agencies to get these massive changes through.” The administration is attempting to leverage “administrative, executive branch overreach to do what Congress will not pass,” she concluded.

Week in Regulation: Water Heater Efficiency Rule Keeps Costs in the Billions – @DtheGman #WeekInReghttps://t.co/wgvZJyoqZW

— American Action Forum (@AAF) July 31, 2023

AAF published its data just weeks after the Foundation for Government Accountability released a report which concluded that the Biden administration is imposing the most expensive regulatory agenda of any administration in American history.

By comparison, the costs of final rules implemented by the Trump administration through Trump’s first 30 months in office reached $36.3 billion and 54.5 million paperwork hours.

Just last week, the Biden administration issued 16 new rulemakings adding up to $19.3 billion in total costs and 4.4 million annual paperwork hours, according to AAF’s data.

The Biden administration has used regulatory action to crack down on gas-powered appliances, internal combustion engine vehicles and coal-fired power plants in pursuit of its “whole-of-government approach” to countering the perceived effects of climate change.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) unveiled a new proposal Friday which would impose tight fuel economy standards on American auto manufacturers and make vehicles up to $1,000 more expensive for consumers if finalized. That proposal followed a previous attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new emissions standards on heavy-duty trucks, which Senate Republicans managed to overturn despite not having control of the chamber.

The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.