President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order that requires federal agencies to revoke two new regulations for every new regulation they create.

“This will be the biggest such act that our country has ever seen,” Trump said during the signing, according to Politico. “There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be a normalized control.”

The order will also set a new annual cap on the cost of federal regulations, one official told reporters, per Reuters.

Trump, a frequently outspoken critic of business regulation, also told several CEOs on Jan. 20 that his administration would be cutting 75 percent or “maybe more” of regulations in the United States. While it is unclear what Trump means by his promise, Business Insider reported the president did not specify whether he was referring to a 75 percent cut in the cost of regulations or the total number of regulations in the U.S.

Issuing the executive order shows the president has only just begun to fulfill promises made on the campaign trail and comfortably take his position as a business-friendly, anti-regulation president. Within the first few days in office, Trump also issued two presidential memoranda — executive actions that take less precedence than an executive order — lessening regulations for manufacturing sectors in the U.S. and freezing new federal regulations from being published.

The “Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing” memorandum, issued on Jan. 24, directs executive departments and agencies to expedite reviews and approvals of the construction or expansion of manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

The memorandum also orders a reduction in the number of “regulatory burdens” on domestic manufacturers. It instructs the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to work with other department heads to reach out to companies in the U.S. over a 60-day period to ask what the federal government can do to make permitting easier for businesses.

The other presidential memorandum issued by Trump is a common action taken by first-term presidents, who try to make sure no regulations that were reviewed by the outgoing administration are immediately implemented during the new presidency.

Reince Priebus, Trump’s chief of staff, signed the memorandum. It is similar to the one Rahm Emanuel, then-President Barack Obama’s chief of staff and now mayor of Chicago, signed in 2009.

But some key differences in the new memorandum are highlighting Trump’s aggressive stances on regulation. The Priebus memorandum states that federal agencies have to postpone regulations that have been published but have not yet taken effect. Emanuel, however, asked them to “consider” postponing regulations. The new memorandum also targets guidance documents, which are advisory recommendations from federal agencies, not laws.

The regulation memorandum has received mixed review from companies. While some companies have lauded the freeze, other businesses and workers are planning to fight in support of certain regulations.

Trump’s action also froze a wide range of other different regulations. Notably, the memorandum halted several regulations that would have required new checks for airplane fuselages that commonly crack.

One regulation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration lowers the amount of beryllium that workers are allowed to be exposed to while on the job. Beryllium is a metal that if frequently inhaled or touched can result in a type of lung disease or cancer. Another rule that was halted would tighten the restrictions on the shipment of crude oil on railroads.

The president also pledged to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, a fiercely debated financial regulatory measure that was created following the 2008 financial crisis during his first 100 days.

“The problem with the regulation that we have right now is that you can’t do anything,” Trump said during his meeting with CEOs, according to NPR. “It’s out of control. It’s gotten out of control.”

Published on January 30, 2017 at 8:11 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek