President Donald Trump on Monday imposed sweeping constraints on any new US regulations, by requiring two rules be killed before any new one can be introduced and mandating zero cost impact.
Surrounded by a handful of small business owners at the White House, Trump said his latest executive order was aimed at reducing the burden on those companies, fulfilling one of his campaign promises.
But the text of the new order reveals a much broader implication, and prompted the Union of Concerned Scientists to immediately condemn it, saying it creates a "Sophie's choice" for agencies that will have to pick between equally important rules.
"We're getting rid of regulations to a massive extent, could be as much as 75 percent" to address "the damaging effects on our economy" from the regulatory burden imposed by past presidents, Trump said at the signing ceremony.
And he said while the administration will continue to "have great protection for the consumer... we don't need 97 different rules to take care of one element."
He stressed that small entrepreneurs have been hampered by regulations, making it hard to open or expand a business.
However, the executive order does nothing about the number of existing regulations, focusing only on new regulations, saying that "for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination."
It also will limit the cost of new regulations by every agency by setting an annual limit on cost increases for implementing all rules.
There is no mention in the order that it specifically relates to business regulations. Only military, national security, and personnel issues are exempt.
Ken Kimmell, the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the order likely is illegal.
"This executive order is absurd, imposing a Sophie's choice on federal agencies," Kimmell said in a statement, referring to the 1979 novel in which a woman must choose whether to save her son or daughter from a German gas chamber in World War II.
"If, for example, the (Environmental Protection Agency) wants to issue a new rule to protect kids from mercury exposure, will it need to get rid of two other science-based rules, such as limiting lead in drinking water and cutting pollution from school buses?"
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