Trump’s One In Ten Out Executive Order is a Stupid, Illegal, Corrupt Big Business Giveaway

February 1, 2025

Trump's One-In-Ten-Out Executive Order is a Stupid, Illegal, Corrupt Big Business Giveaway

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump late Friday issued an executive order requiring that whenever an agency promulgates a new rule, regulation, or guidance, it must identify at least ten existing ones to repeal. It is a radical expansion of Trump's first term one-in-two-out executive order, which Public Citizen sued to block. Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:

"Trump's preposterous deregulatory executive order - demanding ten rules go for every one issued - is a flat out gift to polluters, grifters, reckless employers, and Big Business overall. What's more, the order is unbelievably stupid and illegal.

"Regulatory protections give us cleaner air and water, safer food, fairer workplaces, and a more just economy. Rolling them back will hurt every American. Regulatory safeguards make society not only healthier and more just - they make us richer.

"Every major regulation delivers more benefits in dollar terms than it takes in costs.

"The executive order is stupid because it ignores all this. It looks only at corporate-inflated cost estimates while ignoring the under-valued benefits.

"Importantly, it violates both the letter and the spirit of the law by failing to undertake individual evaluation of rules.

"It's arbitrary and capricious."