The Biden administration has set in motion a wave of new regulations that have already cost the U.S. more than $1 trillion, which equates to thousands of dollars per family, according to a new report from the Job Creators Network.
There have been $1.6 trillion in costs imposed from a total of 923 new federal regulations that have been finalized under President Joe Biden, with $1.2 trillion of those being put in place in just the past few months, according to the JCN. In just the first two years of the Biden administration, new regulations are estimated to have led to an average of almost $10,000 in added future and present costs to American households, which could jump to $60,000 if the trend continues across a two-term presidency.
“Federal bureaucrats are pushing an unprecedented regulatory agenda that’s crushing American small businesses and families at a time of already high inflation,” Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Not only are they exceeding their authority, but the economic strain is creating long-term problems for the folks that are the backbone of our economy.”
The most costly regulation is the recently finalized emission standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles, totaling around $870 billion, according to the report. The emission standards introduce increasingly steep requirements over time that vehicles be either hybrid or electric, which currently cost more than traditional cars, as a part of the president’s climate agenda.
The Biden administration has also instituted several regulations on appliances amid the president’s bid to lower household emissions. The new standards for washing machines are estimated to cost $200 per unit, the gas furnace efficiency standards will cost $494 on average, and the ban on select refrigerants for air conditioners will cost $1,000, according to the report.
Despite the president’s outward support for the manufacturing sector, the industry has also suffered from the surge in regulation in recent years. In 2022, regulations cost American manufacturers $350 billion, up 26% from a decade earlier, equating to around $29,000 per employee in compliance efforts, according to the JCN.
President Joe Biden takes the stage at a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Agencies within the Biden administration have rushed to finalize new regulations ahead of the 2024 presidential election in an effort to entrench them in case Biden does not win a second term. New regulations are subject to a “lookback period” of 60 days before the end of a session of Congress, where they can be more easily repealed due to the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 23: U.S. President Joe Biden stands with Kenyan President William Ruto during an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on May 23, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Since the Obama administration in 2009, federal agencies have finalized more than 5,300 regulations, for a total of $2.6 trillion in present and future costs, according to the JCN. Looking across similar timelines, the Trump administration reduced the cost of regulations by $159.4 billion compared to the Obama administration, which added $309 billion.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the DCNF.
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