Trump signs executive order aiming to slash regulations
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aiming to kickstart campaign pledges to slash regulations.
The measure will expand regulatory review with the goal of revoking two regulations for every new one put forward, according to a senior administration official. Under the order, federal agencies will propose rules they want to drop and the White House will review them.
With the order, Trump followed through on repeated campaign promises to cut rules that he said hold back the economy. In meetings with business leaders since his election, Trump has touted his efforts to reduce regulations and cut corporate taxes.
While signing the order surrounded by small business owners, Trump called it "the largest ever cut by far in terms of regulation." It sets a budget each year for what new regulations would cost the economy, companies and employers.
For fiscal 2017, it gives a budget of $0 for new regulations.
Critics of Trump's economic and regulatory agenda have raised concerns that his administration will reduce protections for consumers and the environment in an effort to help businesses. Many of the specific regulations Trump has criticized relate to environmental protection.
"There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be a normalized control," Trump told reporters at the White House.
The administration said the rules would not affect independent agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The White House has already put a temporary regulatory freeze in place, but the order establishes the process for when the freeze ends, according to the official.
The Office of Management and Budget, which Trump has tapped budget hawk Mick Mulvaney to lead, will have discretion to give the agencies guidance.
— CNBC's Eamon Javers contributed to this report
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