Tipsheet

Conservative Reps to Give Trump a Book of 200 Regulations He Can Eliminate

Cortney O'Brien
Cortney O'Brien  |  December 14, 2016 10:00 AM
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who once considered challenging Rep. Paul Ryan for the House speakership, told CNN Wednesday morning that he and the other conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus are handing President-elect Donald Trump a 21-page report outlining 200 regulations he can eliminate.

This book of superfluous regulations, Meadows acknowledged, will include opportunities for the president to get rid of regulations without congressional approval.

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CNN's Brooke Baldwin wondered whether Meadows' effort was hypocritical, considering he and his colleagues cried foul when President Obama circumvented Congress to enact his own agenda. 

"We're not suggesting overreach because that would be hypocrisy in the first degree," Meadows agreed. "We're looking at the overreach we've seen in the last eight years and rolling that back." One example he provided was how the FDA faces regulations on the size of breath mints - a ridiculous requirement which bogs down the regulatory process. 

"Anything that should require Congress to act we left off of the report," he explained. "It's not taking checks and balances out of the system." 

If Trump acts on their report, it will make his first 100 days extremely productive, Meadows argued.