, Columnist
Trump's Safe and Sane 'Regulatory Reform' Idea
Rhetoric and reality on "the deconstruction of the administrative state."
Not-so-clear skies.
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In one of his few statements since joining government, presidential adviser Stephen Bannon announced that one of the Trump administration’s principal goals was “the deconstruction of the administrative state.” Given the critical role of federal agencies in protecting public health and safety, that’s pretty provocative. But President Donald Trump’s latest action suggests that reform is the aim, rather than deconstruction -- and the reform might even turn out to be reasonable.
The action took the form of an executive order, issued in late February, “on enforcing the regulatory reform agenda.” Its text is quite bureaucratic, but it’s likely to prove profoundly important.