Several of my free market or libertarian friends are extremely upset about Trump’s tariff policies. I am confused and discouraged about them too. But I have said to my friends that while we criticize the tariff policies we should also find time to praise the Trump policies reducing regulations and downsizing government.
The response from several libertarians has been that nothing significant has been achieved on deregulation and downsizing. So I have resolved that at least for the next few weeks I will be alert to evidence on this issue, and occasionally run a post when I find some.
For instance, the NYT reported on Saturday that last week Trump instructed 10 federal agencies to add “sunset” clauses to most of their regulations saying that they will expire by October 2026. If the agency decides a regulation should be kept, they are to add a clause that the regulation will expire in five years unless reapproved. Trump also told all of his cabinet secretaries that within 60 days they are to have plans on which of the regulations in their areas should be repealed.
Trump also ordered the specific repeal of regulations limiting water flow in shower heads. (I like this one. Let’s Make America Clean Again (MACA) or at least let’s let people be free to choose to be clean.)
My source is:
(Note: the online version of the article has the date April 11, 2025, and has the title “Trump’s New Way to Kill Regulations: Because I Say So.”)