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.
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“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reducing, or proposing to eliminate more than 300 regulations in total, including ineffective, unnecessary, or out-of-date “deadwood” regulations.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.
