Shutdown Halts More Obama Federal Regulations

Anyone fretting over a whole lot of rules and regulations is getting a temporary reprieve from the government shutdown.

The Hill reports that new federal regulations have almost ground to a halt – with only the most vital rules still being written. And that's just fine with many conservatives and business groups.

"We’re very pleased that the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to wreck the U.S. economy with more and more heavy-handed and colossally expensive regulations has been put on hold," Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s energy and environment center, told The Hill.

The Federal Register logs all new regulations, and Monday's edition, the last day before the government shutdown, was 400 pages long with 40 new rules or proposals awaiting public discourse, The Hill noted. Friday's entry was only a third as long with only six new rules.

Republicans were happy to hear that the Environmental Protection Agency had cut back on its regulatory work.

“I’m no fan of the EPA at all. So they certainly can’t perform any of their mischief if 93 percent of them are furloughed,” Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, told The Hill.

Even one Democrat, former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., admitted that business groups are happy with the cutback in regulations, however temporary.

“If they think [the shutdown] potentially it means a week without regulations, they’re thinking, ‘Great, I have a week to catch up,” she said. But Lincoln, now with the National Federation of Independent Business said that no one who is serious wants to see all government regulations abolished.

In addition to reducing new regulations, the shutdown also has slowed down the work of the Internal Revenue Service as it chases down money it feels it is owed. And Internet users are finding messages on government websites telling them the sites are down for the duration of the shutdown.