Cole: Deregulating the Swamp

By Congressman Tom Cole

Ever since the historic election on November 8, 2016, the United States has gotten a glimpse of what to expect from a Donald Trump Administration. President-elect Trump ran on an unabashedly populist platform that consistently put America first. Even before being sworn in President Trump was instrumental in convincing several American companies not to relocate and move American jobs overseas. And the stock market has consistently hovered around historic levels since Mr. Trump was elected.

For too long during the past eight years, Americans have been witness to leaders who seem to be completely oblivious to the dire needs of the American workers and taxpayers. Government overregulation and presumptuous attitudes by the Obama Administration have left Americans scrambling for jobs, losing business, using faulty healthcare and subject to burdensome labor rules. The result has been economic stagnation and record levels of underemployed workers, many of whom have simply stopped looking for work.

During the course of his two terms in office, President Obama abandoned the manufacturing, rust belt workers that previously comprised the base of the Democratic governing coalition. They have since been replaced by radical environmentalists and arrogant Hollywood elites. This shift may explain why Trump swept the industrial mid-west – a feat not accomplished by a Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan’s landslide in 1984. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, ran up victories in liberal California by 30 points and equally left-leaning New York by 20.

To further reshape Washington and all of its bureaucratic burdens, the House has already passed legislation in just the first few days of the new Congressional session. One of the first bills to reach the House floor and pass was H.R. 26, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017, or known as “REINS Act”. This legislation would require that Congress approve any new rules or regulations from the Executive Branch with an annual economic impact of $100 million or more. Further, the House has passed the Midnight Rules Act (H.R. 21), which will allow Congress to repeal multiple regulations or rules at once. These are just the first few steps we can take to put the brakes on President Obama’s liberal agenda, and to block more rules from being added to the pile – there’s been 600 new rules and regulations since the start of the Obama Administration.

Just as this was a campaign season like no other, I suspect a Trump presidency also will be like no other. He will be the first person to hold the office without having previously served in public office or commanded troops in battle. As with any new administration, there will be challenges along the way. But I am confident the American people will be patient with our new President. They know he has a historic challenge and that he must address problems on many fronts.