Updated
Updated · American Action Forum · Jul 27
Federal Agencies Cut $4.9 Billion in Costs as 4.9 Million Paperwork Hours Fall
Updated
Updated · American Action Forum · Jul 27

Federal Agencies Cut $4.9 Billion in Costs as 4.9 Million Paperwork Hours Fall

1 articles · Updated · American Action Forum · Jul 27

Summary

  • $4.9 billion in regulatory cost savings and 4.9 million fewer paperwork hours were published last week, marking a fourth straight week in which federal rulemakings were net cost-reducing.
  • DOL and SEC drove much of the savings with proposals to shift required disclosures from paper to electronic delivery, with DOL estimating $392 million in annual savings and SEC $155 million.
  • DHS also finalized its rescission of the 2022 public charge rule, a move the report says carries potentially substantial downstream effects even though its quantified cost analysis was limited.
  • For 2026, agencies have posted about $1 trillion in net regulatory cost savings, including $1.1 trillion from final rules, while total paperwork burdens still show a net annual increase of 100.5 million hours.

Insights

As federal agencies push to save billions by eliminating paper, who really profits from the new digital-by-default disclosure systems?
Will the government's massive shift to digital disclosures accidentally lock millions out of their own sensitive health and financial data?
Could the SEC's drastic overhaul of proxy delivery rules leave traditional investors entirely in the dark before they even realize it?