WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Friday requiring every agency to establish a task force focused on eliminating unnecessary regulations.
The executive order “will ensure that every agency has a team of dedicated people to research all regulations that are unnecessary, burdensome and harmful to the economy, and harmful to the creation of jobs and business,’’ Trump said while flanked by CEOs from several Fortune 500 companies.
Trump has already signed other deregulatory executive orders, including one directing the Treasury secretary to review the Dodd-Frank Act and put together a report on rules that can be eliminated and another that says two federal regulations should be eliminated for every new rule implemented.
It was not immediately clear whether the independent banking and credit union agencies are technically covered by the new executive order, but in practical terms it is unlikely to make a difference. The banking agencies have said they will try to comply with executive orders, even ones that don't necessarily apply to them, on a voluntary basis where possible.
The banking and credit union regulators also already have a task force that conducts a review under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act. That law requires the regulators to “identify outdated or unnecessary regulations and consider how to reduce regulatory burden on insured depository institutions while, at the same time, ensuring their safety and soundness and the safety and soundness of the financial system.”
But the direction the Trump administration is pushing regulators is clear. The executive order said that regulations created by the Obama administration cost taxpayers $873 billion and that the task forces will be held accountable.
"Every regulation should have to pass a simple test: Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers?" Trump said Friday. "If the answer is no ... we will be getting rid of it and getting rid of it quickly."
