Executive Order 14192 establishes a sweeping deregulatory framework aimed at dramatically reducing federal regulatory burdens on businesses and individuals. The order characterizes the current regulatory environment as an "ever-expanding morass" that imposes "massive costs" on Americans, restrains economic growth, and hampers global competitiveness. According to the order, federal regulations have become difficult for average citizens and businesses to understand due to the complex web of formal regulations, rules, memoranda, guidance documents, and other administrative directives. The administration positions this deregulatory push as essential for securing America's economic prosperity, national security, and quality of life.
The centerpiece of the order is a "ten-for-one" rule that requires agencies to identify at least ten existing regulations for elimination whenever they propose a new regulation. For fiscal year 2025, the order mandates that the total incremental cost of all new regulations must be "significantly less than zero" unless otherwise required by law. The order applies broadly to agency statements of general applicability designed to implement or interpret law or policy, including regulations, memoranda, guidance documents, and policy statements, regardless of whether they were enacted through Administrative Procedure Act processes. However, it exempts regulations related to military and national security functions, agency organization and personnel, and other categories that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director may specify as imposing minimal costs on the private sector.
Implementation responsibility falls primarily to the OMB Director, who is charged with providing guidance on standardizing regulatory cost measurement, determining what qualifies as new and offsetting regulations, and establishing processes for accounting for costs across different fiscal years or agencies. The order revokes the November 2023 version of OMB Circular A-4 on Regulatory Analysis and reinstates the September 2003 version. Beginning with fiscal year 2026, agency heads must identify offsetting regulations and provide cost estimates for new and repealed regulations during the Presidential budget process. The OMB Director will establish a total "incremental cost allowance" for each agency, and no regulations exceeding this allowance will be permitted unless required by law or approved by the Director. By establishing this regulatory budgeting process, the order aims to fundamentally restructure how federal agencies approach regulation, creating a system where regulatory reductions become a prerequisite for any new regulatory action.