As promised, President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday, requiring executive branch agencies to identify two regulations to kill for every one they want to add.
He made that a campaign pledge and even included it on a survey he sent to supporters last week asking them to vote on what actions he should prioritize as President.
Executive orders have historically been interpreted as not applying to independent agencies, so the FCC should be under no such directive. But it may feel some pressure to comply voluntarily.
A spokesperson for Chairman Ajit Pai would only say that the FCC was reviewing the executive order.
Pai has already signaled he wanted to take a weed whacker to what he saw as an overgrown regulatory underbrush. And when he issued a regulatory cost-benefit directive to executive agencies back in 2011, President Barack Obama signaled he thought independent agencies should, whenever possible within the law, promote the underlying goals of executive orders.
The new order "will lead to a dangerous new era of deregulation and corporate 'self-regulation,'" said Public Xitizen.
