In light of the two aforementioned items, it seems timely to also report on action the President took this week to require more transparency – and less regulatory overreach through the use of rulemaking – by all federal agencies. In a pair of Executive Orders (EOs) he signed this week, President Trump is requiring federal agencies to publish all informal guidance documents (think operations manual) and ‘secret rulemaking’. The EOs mandate that all agencies must accept public comment on major guidance documents and publish them on a searchable website. Past practice has allowed agencies to expand their administrative authority through guidance documents drafted by “unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats” operating outside the democratic system of government. Regulatory overreach was cited as a problem back in a report entitled “Shining Light on Regulatory Dark Matter” produced in March of 2018 by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform under then-Chairman Trey Gowdy.