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Key Findings:

key findings

  • The US Constitution makes lawmakers democratically accountable, yet Americans are subject to thousands of rules that are issued by bureaucrats without democratic accountability.
  • But Who Rules the Rulemakers reviewed 2,952 final rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services over a 17-year period.
  • The report found that nearly 75% of these rules are unconstitutional because they were issued by low-level officials and employees with no authority to issue rules.
  • The 2,094 unconstitutional rules we found have real consequences for individuals and small businesses.
  • Among the thousands of rules issued without democratic controls by the Food and Drug Administration were 25 rules that each had an impact of $100 million or more.
  • Each of the branches should act to reign in this undemocratic behavior—including striking down illegally issued rules and requiring senior appointees to take responsibility for rules issued by their agencies.