CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says he supports President Trump’s fight to reduce “the regulatory burden” on state governments and citizens.
On Dec. 14, Trump held a press conference to explain his “1-in 2-out” rule, which the administration says will eliminate unnecessary and costly regulation by requiring the federal government to eliminate two regulations for every new rule it creates. The White House says the rule has successfully canceled or delayed more than 1,500 regulatory actions.
Morrisey says he “vehemently” supports and pursues the effort.
“This announcement is a major milestone for our nation and the people of West Virginia,” Morrisey said. “Reining in federal overreach is crucial to the success of the Mountain State, and I will continue to support the elimination of regulations that stifle economic growth.”
In April, West Virginia and Wisconsin led a 14-state coalition urging a federal court to uphold Trump’s deregulation order. That brief argued the executive order was within Trump’s authority and would reduce the sprawl of unnecessary and costly regulation.
Morrisey said Trump’s Dec. 14 announcement confirms that the order has effectively constrained a bureaucracy that has implemented a far greater regulatory burden than Congress ever envisioned.
Trump says he wants the Federal Code to shrink to the size it was in 1960. In a photo op, Trump used a pair of gold scissors to cut red ribbon, or tape, between two piles of paper. One represented the size of the code in 1960 – about 20,000 pages – and the other represented to code today – more than 185,000 pages.
“The never-ending growth of red tape in America has come to a sudden, screeching and beautiful halt,” Trump said. “We're going to cut a ribbon because we're getting back below the 1960 level, and we'll be there fairly quickly.”