Conservatives often describe regulations as “red tape” or as “job-killing” impediments on the economy. But that rhetoric is intended to obscure the truth that regulations set the economic rules of the road. Regulations ensure that workers get paid for the hours they work; that their retirement is secure; and that the costs of the goods they rely upon are affordable. Under the Trump administration, however, those rules are being rewritten in ways that are making it harder for many Americans to get ahead.
The Trump administration has abandoned common-sense regulations that ensure workers get paid for the overtime hours they work, costing them nearly $1.7 billion to date. In the place of those regulations, the administration has proposed a watered-down rule that provides fewer protections and would still cost workers $840 million a year in lost wages.* President Donald Trump has taken a similar approach to a rule that protects retirees from being cheated by financial advisers—a problem that costs people $17 billion in retirement savings per year. The president first abandoned the rule and then has sought to replace it with a cheap facsimilethat would do little to protect people. Finally, the Trump administration is looking to weaken standards governing fuel-efficiency and climate pollution, which means that American families would spend a net $23.8 billion more every year largely due to higher spending on gas.**
President Trump’s attacks on regulations that ensure workers are paid overtime; protect retirees from unscrupulous financial advisers; and ensure that people pay less at the pump could cost Americans up to almost $42 billion per year. (see Table 1) Far from cutting red tape, Trump and his administration are rigging the system against everyday Americans.