Republicans like Paul Ryan want to stop regulatory agencies from writing rules or doing much of anything
At the same time, there’s evidence from both sides of the aisle that agencies are already struggling to put new regulations into place. An analysis last year by the conservative R Street Institute found that federal agencies have missed 1,400 deadlines over the past decade. And a report from June by watchdog group Public Citizen found that the average length of time it takes to finalize an agency rule has been increasing over the course of the past two administrations. Economically significant rules, such as new Department of Transportation standards aimed at preventing oil train explosions, took nearly three and a half years to finish on average.
