The friend-of-the-court brief, filed April 17, defends President Trump’s so-called “1-in 2-out” rule, which strives to eliminate unnecessary and costly regulation by requiring the federal bureaucracy to do away with two regulations for every new rule it creates.
“The administrative state has spiraled out of control, while rarely eliminating unnecessary regulations issued in the past,” Morrisey said in a statement. “The 1-in, 2-out strategy reverses that trend and protects West Virginians from federal overreach.
"This promises to ease the regulatory burden and allow those negatively impacted by overregulation to flourish.”
The coalition argues that Trump’s order effectively reins in a bureaucracy that has implemented a far greater regulatory burden than Congress ever envisioned.
The brief also says past presidents, of both political parties, have enacted similar mechanisms to ensure review of regulations within the executive branch. Such measures have instructed agencies to consider the cumulative costs, the impact on the national economy and the effect of rules on state and local government.
West Virginia and Wisconsin filed the coalition’s brief before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Others participating are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.