The regulatory costs of President Obama’s historic wave of new regulations reached $164 billion in 2016, and last minute “midnight” rules could add another $30 billion as he tries to nail down his legacy before President-elect Trump takes office.
A new analysis of the regulations also shows that in the last year the regulations threatened or killed thousands of blue collar jobs and more cuts could result from the regulations the administration still plans to make in the coming week.
The American Action Forum, which has charted the regulatory pressure on businesses under Obama, found that in 2016 the administration unleashed regulations that will cost $164 billion and result in an additional 120 million hours in red tape.
“In 2016, President Obama carved out another legacy of record-breaking proportions. Last year will likely take the record for most major rules issued in a calendar year,” wrote Sam Batkins, director of regulatory policy at AAF.
And, he warned: “Despite more than $164 billion in regulatory costs, President Obama’s regulatory legacy is not yet complete. There are still a few, likely active, days left to regulate. It’s possible the administration could publish more than $30 billion in ‘midnight’ regulations. These notable impositions will surely pique the interest of Congress and the next administration as they scrutinize recent rules and chart a new regulatory vision.”
Trump and congressional Republicans have vowed to plug the regulatory volcano and kill many put in place by Obama, but it will be a tough slog because virtually every agency has imposed new regulations.
Trump and the GOP, however, have an incentive to move against the regulations. Batkins noted that many have cost jobs.
“In 2016, regulators imposed rules that could eliminate 11,560 jobs,” said Batkins.
“One of the largest, efficiency standards for residential furnaces, could impose $9.2 billion in costs, and also eliminate more than 1,700 jobs. Likewise, the $15 billion HVAC efficiency rule could cause nearly 1,000 layoffs, based on agency estimates. The 11,560 job-loss figures is from only ten rules that estimated the impacts, so there could be other rules that will affect employment, but that regulators did not publicly disclose.”
See his full report and details of individual regulations here.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
