in effect
This is Executive Order 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” signed January 31, 2025. It is a presidential directive to federal executive agencies aimed at cutting the cost and volume of federal regulation. It sets up a “regulatory budget” run through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and revives a “ten-for-one” repeal requirement.
Whenever an agency proposes or issues a new regulation, it must identify at least 10 existing regulations to repeal. For fiscal year 2025, the total added cost of all new regulations (counting the savings from repeals) must be “significantly less than zero,” as measured by the OMB Director. Starting in fiscal year 2026, each agency must report its regulatory costs and offsets to OMB, and the Director will set a yearly dollar “cost allowance” that caps how much new regulation each agency may add; nothing can generally be issued unless it appears on the published Unified Regulatory Agenda or the Director approves it in writing. The order also directs OMB to cancel the November 2023 version of Circular A-4 (regulatory analysis guidance) and reinstate the 2003 version, and to restore a 2018 Treasury–OMB agreement on reviewing tax regulations.
Federal executive departments and agencies must comply, with OMB and its Director controlling the process, cost measurement, and any waivers or exemptions. The order’s broad definition of “regulation” reaches not just formal rules but also guidance documents, memoranda, policy statements, and similar measures, though it excludes national security, foreign affairs, immigration, military, and internal agency personnel/management matters, plus low-cost items the Director exempts. The order states it creates no new legal rights and must be carried out consistent with existing law and available funding, so members of the public and businesses feel it indirectly through which regulations agencies add or remove rather than through any directly enforceable claim.