Necessary & Proper Episode 6: Congress Can Fix the “Regulatory Mess” It Created
The Article I Initiative partnered with the Administrative Law & Regulation Practice Group and the Regulatory Transparency Project for a discussion with David Schoenbrod, New York Law School Professor and author of DC Confidential: Inside the Five Tricks of Washington. Hon. Susan Dudley, Director of the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center, moderated the conversation, engaging Professor Schoenbrod's argument that Congress created a “regulatory mess” by commanding agencies to impose duties needed to protect the public. He contends that in doing so, legislators got credit for protecting voters but shifted to the agencies blame for the burdens of protection.
Professor Schoenbrod also alleges that these same legislators later lobbied not to impose these unpopular burdens while simultaneously blaming the agencies for failing to deliver the statutorily-required protection. In recent years some members of Congress have sought on several occasions to address these problems with various bills including the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny” or REINS Act. Professor Schoenbrod rejects the idea that the problem originated in the agencies and offers his own alternative solutions.
