President Trump Announces 10-to-1 Deregulation Initiative

On January 31, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order initiating a significant deregulation effort, termed the “10-to-1 Deregulation Initiative.” This directive mandates that for every new rule, regulation, or guidance an agency proposes, it must identify at least ten existing ones to repeal. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is tasked with standardizing the measurement and estimation of regulatory costs to ensure that the total incremental cost of all new regulations, including those repealed, is significantly less than zero for fiscal year 2025.

This initiative aims to reverse the regulatory expansion of the previous administration, which, according to the current White House, imposed $1.7 trillion in costs on Americans. The administration argues that overregulation hampers entrepreneurship, burdens small businesses, limits consumer choices, stifles innovation, and infringes on individual liberties, contributing to higher living costs, particularly in energy.

Building upon efforts from his first term, where a “2-for-1” regulation reduction policy reportedly resulted in the elimination of five and a half regulations for every new one introduced, President Trump’s new Executive Order seeks to further reduce unnecessary and burdensome federal regulations, aiming to improve the daily lives of Americans.