Browse regulations

Implements loan agreements between Rural Utilities Service and electric borrowers, requiring compliance with RUS policies for materials, equipment, and construction financed with RUS loans. Establishes procurement procedures, contract forms, and approval requirements for electric system development.

This regulation creates unnecessary federal oversight of rural electric utilities, imposing costly compliance burdens that distort market competition and raise barriers to entry. The requirements for specific contract forms, procurement procedures, and RUS approval for projects under $5 million represent regulatory capture that benefits incumbent contractors while harming small utilities and rural consumers through higher costs and reduced innovation.

Regulation governs loan contracts and security requirements for Rural Utilities Service (RUS) loans to distribution borrowers, outlining provisions for loan purpose, interest rates, repayment terms, and borrower obligations

The regulation imposes significant bureaucratic burdens and costs on borrowers, potentially limiting access to financing for rural electrification projects, and its complexity may lead to unintended consequences, such as favoring established players over new entrants

This regulation establishes a federal marketing order for Walla Walla Sweet Onions, creating a government-appointed committee with authority to restrict shipments, mandate handler assessments, and control marketing practices for onions grown in a specific Oregon-Washington region.

This New Deal-era cartel scheme coerces farmers and handlers into funding a bureaucracy that restricts supply, raises consumer prices, and protects incumbents from competition. The brand can be protected through state-level geographic indication and private certification without violating free market principles or imposing $14,000+ hidden taxes on American households through regulatory compliance costs.

Regulates the end-use certificate program for Canadian wheat imports, requiring detailed documentation, record-keeping, and reporting to ensure compliance with trade agreements.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs on importers, subsequent buyers, and end users, with extensive paperwork and record-keeping requirements. These costs disproportionately burden small businesses and create barriers to entry. The regulation also represents an unnecessary federal overreach into trade matters that could be better handled through bilateral agreements or state-level regulations. Additionally, the regulation's complexity and the burden of compliance likely outweigh any benefits, distorting the market and increasing costs for consumers.

Regulation outlines procedural rules for adjudicatory proceedings related to the withdrawal of inspection, certification, or grading services for agricultural products, including notice requirements, suspension conditions, and service restoration.

Procedural rules for a specific regulatory function (agricultural inspection/grading) that is part of a larger, already overburdened system. The regulation's existence is a cost (compliance, administrative burden) with no clear public benefit, and its scope is narrow/obsoleted by the broader regulatory framework.

This regulation establishes the organizational structure and delegation of authority within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, defining the Secretary's powers, succession order, and specific delegations to Under Secretaries for various agricultural functions including foreign trade, farm production, and conservation programs.

This is a purely administrative internal delegation structure that creates unnecessary bureaucratic complexity. The Constitution and federal statutes already provide the framework for executive authority. These detailed internal delegations create an entrenched administrative state that shields bureaucrats from accountability while imposing compliance costs on farmers and businesses without providing any public benefit. The specific functions delegated to Under Secretaries could be exercised directly by the Secretary or through simpler organizational structures.

Imposes ethics restrictions on USPS employees and Board members, prohibiting outside employment with competing delivery services (UPS, FedEx, Amazon, DHL), certain contractors, and financial interests that could conflict with postal operations; requires prior approval for many activities and mandates divestiture of prohibited investments.

The regulation imposes massive liberty and compliance costs on 600,000+ employees by broadly prohibiting outside work with any competing carrier regardless of actual role or conflict, stifling economic freedom and creating a burdensome approval bureaucracy. Actual corruption is already criminalized under 18 U.S.C. 208 and can be addressed narrowly; this overbroad rule treats all employees as guilty until proven innocent, reduces the talent pool, and reinforces unequal restrictions on government workers—all while providing no additional protection that couldn't be achieved through targeted enforcement of existing laws.

Requires Export-Import Bank employees to obtain written approval from supervisor and ethics officer before any outside employment (paid or unpaid) to avoid conflicts of interest. Broadly defines 'employment' to include most personal services but excludes nonprofit volunteer work.

Prior restraint on economic liberty and individual freedom creates unnecessary bureaucracy, chilling effects, and administrative burden. Unseen costs include reduced labor market flexibility for federal workers and contribution to regulatory bloat; conflicts of interest can be addressed through less restrictive means like post-employment restrictions or merely disclosure requirements.

This regulation establishes ethical conduct standards for Farm Credit Administration employees, focusing on conflicts of interest. It prohibits covered employees (examiners and others designated by the agency) from owning securities of System institutions or related entities, borrowing from these institutions, purchasing their assets except under specific conditions, and performing services for them. Family employment relationships are also restricted, and waivers can be granted by the Designated Agency Ethics Official.

These internal administrative ethics rules duplicate broader federal ethics requirements (5 CFR part 2635) while creating agency-specific compliance burdens. They increase operational costs for FCA, reduce flexibility in hiring talent with industry experience, and create bureaucratic barriers that may hinder effective oversight. The regulation's restrictions on employee investments and relationships, while intended to prevent conflicts, actually limit the pool of qualified personnel and impede the free flow of human capital. Market discipline and general anti-corruption laws provide sufficient safeguards against the misconduct this regulation attempts to address.

This regulation establishes ethical conduct standards for Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation employees, prohibiting financial conflicts of interest with System institutions and related entities, including restrictions on ownership of securities, borrowing, purchasing assets, political participation, and outside employment to ensure public confidence in the Corporation's impartiality and objectivity.

This regulation creates an unnecessary bureaucratic layer of ethics rules that duplicate existing federal ethics standards already covered by 5 CFR part 2635. The compliance costs and administrative burden fall disproportionately on small institutions while the restrictions on political participation and outside employment infringe on employees' constitutional rights without clear evidence of preventing actual corruption. These regulations also create barriers to competition by limiting the talent pool available to the Corporation.

FDIC ethics regulations govern employee conduct to prevent conflicts of interest, including restrictions on borrowing from insured institutions, ownership of securities, property purchases, and post-employment activities, with detailed disqualification and waiver procedures.

These regulations create a complex compliance burden that protects incumbent financial institutions from competition while imposing significant administrative costs. The extensive restrictions on employee financial activities and post-employment opportunities create barriers to talent acquisition and distort labor markets in the financial sector.

The regulation outlines the ethical conduct standards for employees of the Department of the Treasury, including rules on financial interests, outside employment, and borrowing to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure impartiality

Americans would be worse off if these regulations were deleted because they are necessary to maintain public trust in the Department of the Treasury's programs and prevent employees from using their positions for personal gain

Establishes OMB oversight of federal information collection, requiring agencies to minimize burden, obtain OMB approval, and display control numbers on forms. Implements Paperwork Reduction Act to reduce compliance costs and maximize utility of government-collected information.

Americans would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it prevents agencies from imposing duplicative, burdensome information collection requirements without oversight. The OMB review process ensures compliance costs are minimized and information collected serves a practical purpose, protecting citizens from unnecessary paperwork and administrative burdens that would otherwise multiply across federal agencies.

This regulation implements 5 U.S.C. 5520a, establishing procedures for garnishing federal employee pay to satisfy legal debts. It defines key terms, specifies service requirements, sets withholding limits under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and delegates implementation to executive agencies while excluding certain entities like USPS and GAO.

Deleting this regulation would eliminate a crucial mechanism for enforcing legal obligations like child support, alimony, and court-ordered debt repayment against federal employees. Without it, creditors would lack a standardized federal process to recover legitimate debts, undermining rule of law and allowing federal employees to evade financial responsibilities that private citizens must meet. The regulation actually protects employees by limiting garnishment to 25% of disposable earnings (unless for taxes or child support) and ensuring due process through proper service requirements.

This regulation (5 CFR Part 451) establishes the framework for federal employee award programs, including cash awards, time-off awards, and honorary recognitions. It implements statutory authority from Title 5, Chapters 43 and 45, governing when and how agencies may recognize employee achievements such as suggestions, inventions, superior accomplishments, and performance. It sets eligibility criteria, approval processes (including OPM and Presidential approval for awards over $10,000 and $25,000 respectively), funding mechanisms, documentation requirements, and restrictions (e.g., no awards during election periods to certain political appointees). It also covers Presidential Rank Awards for SES and senior career employees with specific percentage caps and monetary bonuses.

This regulation represents unnecessary federal overreach into internal personnel management that should be left to individual agencies. It creates a complex, one-size-fits-all bureaucracy requiring extensive documentation, reporting to OPM, and mandated award programs. The unseen costs include administrative overhead, perverse incentives to distribute awards rather than merit, and forced expenditure of taxpayer dollars on recognition programs. Each agency should have autonomy to determine its own personnel incentives without federal mandate; this can be handled through internal policies without the $2 trillion/year regulatory burden contributing to it.