Acting on President Trump’s demand that his cabinet secretaries gut Obama-era federal regulations, the Treasury Department on Tuesday said it has cut over 300 standing and proposed rules with a focus on the Internal Revenue Service.
In a new 20-page report, Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin highlighted the elimination of 305 regulations, including those proposed, and the wiping away of 298 IRS “deadwood” rules.
“Reducing unnecessary burdens will lead to increased economic growth, greater job creation, and a fundamentally stronger economy for our country,” said Mnuchin. “Regulatory reform is a key component of the president’s plan to make American businesses more competitive and create opportunities for hard-working Americans,” he added.
In its effort to comply with Trump’s orders, including killing two old regulations for every new one imposed, Treasury officials put a spotlight on the IRS where several major rules, many pushed by the Obama administration, have been killed.
Among those was one that let the IRS use non-governmental outsiders to audit Americans.
It has also set up a plan to change or eliminate up to 20 other key IRS rules.
The key highlights from Treasury:
- Eliminating, reducing, or proposing to eliminate more than 300 regulations in total, including ineffective, unnecessary, or out-of-date “deadwood” regulations.
- Reducing Treasury’s regulatory agenda by approximately 100 items, year-over-year, from Fall 2016 to Fall 2017.
- More than 250 specific Treasury recommendations to reform and reduce the burdens of regulation in the U.S. domestic financial system.
- Introducing zero new significant regulatory actions.
