United States | It’s raining rules

Why the Biden administration is rushing to produce regulations

An obscure law creates pressure to issue rules that can’t be undone in a hurry

Illustration of the White House surrounded by folders and papers falling from the sky.
Illustration: Damien Vreznik
|Los Angeles and Washington, DC

The bureaucrats have been busier than usual lately. Consider the three days between April 23rd and April 25th. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a sweeping rule banning non-compete clauses in the contracts of almost all American employees. The Department of Labour is expanding the set of workers who must receive mandatory overtime pay (to those who make less than $58,656 a year). The Environmental Protection Agency issued strict guidelines on coal-fired power stations that will probably spell their demise by 2039.

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “It’s raining rules”

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