COVID-19 and Regulation
The GW Regulatory Studies Center is actively compiling resources to better understand how COVID-19 is affecting the rulemaking process, and what the US federal government is doing in relation to the pandemic. Our COVID-19 and Regulation page provides resources that we consider helpful in understanding these changes. Learn more about the Columbian College's response and guidance on the CCAS COVID-19 Resources and Updates page.
Our Latest Publications
Regulations Teed Up at the DEA -- September 23, 2020
By: Laura Stanley
Several of the regulations are long-awaited actions that seek to address the ongoing opioid epidemic.
The Misguided Antitrust Attack on Big Tech -- September 14, 2020
By: Phil Gramm & Jerry Ellig via Wall Street Journal
Any action Congress wishes to take on these issues should come in the form of legislation rather than antitrust enforcement.
Time to Give Bootleggers the Boot! The EPA turns 50. -- September 14, 2020
By: Brian F. Mannix
My wish for the Agency on its fiftieth birthday is that it stays focused on its own mission and remembers that old adage: “Dilution is not the solution to pollution.”
OPM's Paid Parental Leave -- September 9, 2020
By: Joseph J. Cordes & Jerry Ellig
OPM’s analysis suggests that paid parental leave could create social benefits, but the only cost would be the associated administrative costs. Both claims cannot simultaneously be true.
Public Commenting with the New Regulations.gov API -- September 2, 2020
By: Zhoudan Xie
The General Services Administration unveiled a beta version of Regulations.gov with a feature that may substantially increase the ease of submitting mass comments.
The FCC and Section 230 -- September 2, 2020
By: Jerry Ellig
This NTIA proposal is likely to have economic effects that exceed the $100 million annual threshold and hence require a full benefit-cost analysis.
Unintended Consequences of GDPR: A Two-Year Lookback -- September 2, 2020
By: Aryamala Prasad
Two years after implementing GDPR, the EU confirmed it achieved the intended outcome of strengthening individual rights. But the regulation has created new challenges by disproportionately benefitting Big Tech as a result of smaller firms’ inability to bear the regulatory costs.
Into the Void: GAO's Role in the Regulatory State -- August 25, 2020
By: Bridget C.E. Dooling
The Government Accountability Office has become referee in an increasingly important part of the administrative state: determining which actions are “rules” under the Congressional Review Act. The significance of these opinions, which are not binding as a matter of law, has grown as legislators use them strategically in regulatory politics.
Improvements in SEC Economic Analysis -- August 19, 2020
By: Jerry Ellig
Ellig finds that the SEC, in just a few years, has closed the gap between the quality of its economic analysis and the average quality of economic analysis produced by executive branch agencies.
Mass, Computer-Generated, and Fraudulent Comments -- August 19, 2020
By: Bridget C.E. Dooling via Yale Journal on Regulation.
A new project by ACUS features several GW scholars; Steven Balla, Emily Hammond, and Bridget Dooling, plus other prominent scholars of the rulemaking comment process.
Support the Center
Do you want better regulations? We can help YOU achieve that goal! The GW Regulatory Studies Center could not be here today without the generous support of individuals, foundations, and organizations around the world who actively donate resources to allow us to provide paid internships to promising students, host widely attended bipartisan events, and publish material on the most pressing issues in regulatory policy.
What We're Working On
USDA Reports
The GW Regulatory Studies Center's cooperative agreements with the US Department of Agriculture analyze agricultural regulations in a series of reports.
Regulators' Budgets
Analyzing regulatory policy through annual budgets.
Congressional Review Act
Whether you think the policy is vital to democratic governance or an improper check on agency actions, we have the details and analysis you're looking for!
Making A Difference
Cass R. Sunstein
Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard Law School
OIRA Administrator (Obama)
"The GW Regulatory Studies Center has done phenomenal work in cataloguing and analyzing reforms in regulatory policy...[it is] a national treasure."
Shawne McGibbon
General Counsel, ACUS
Graduate of GW Law
"The Regulatory Studies Center gives students hands on experience that I craved when I was in school. Programs like this are simply invaluable."
James Lankford
United States Senator from Oklahoma
"I am grateful for the non-partisan expertise and information that I can trust from the GW Regulatory Studies Center."
