Keep up the good work – Trump’s Regulatory Slowdown Is Real – Hit & Run : Reason.com

But it might not last unless Congress gets more involved.

I can’t imagine having a situation where Congress getting involved will reduce regulation. The American Public wants to be regulated. This is good…

You can literally see how Trump stacks up against previous presidents by printing out the full length of the Federal Register, that annual behemoth that publishes every new rule issued by a federal department or agency. In 2016, Obama’s final year in office, the register ran to a record length of 95,000 pages—far ahead of the previous record, set just one year before, of 80,000 pages. Thirteen of the 15 longest registers in American history were authored by Trump’s two immediate predecessors.

Trump’s 2017 register? A mere 61,308 pages, the lowest count since 1993.

So here’s Congresses role…

And only Congress can truly return the administrative state to a more limited role. As Matt Welch detailed in Reason last year, the growth of federal regulations is largely the result of Congress handing over too much rulemaking authority to federal agencies—and failing to hold agencies accountable for the rules they create.

“Ultimately, permanent regulatory streamlining will require Congress to act,” says Crews.

Color me ever so skeptical both simply because it’s Congress and also the people who elect them.