6 Ways to Rein in a Runaway Administrative State
The administrative state is out of control.
Consider the case of Bill Bright, a fisherman from Cape May, New Jersey. In 2020, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a federal agency within the Department of Commerce, demanded that Atlantic herring fishermen like Bright pay for government-appointed monitors to ride along on their boats — at a cost of over $700 per day.
That’s often more than the fishing captains themselves earn on a trip.
The Cause of Action Institute, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to government oversight, filed suit on behalf of the fishermen to challenge this requirement. Their legal argument was straightforward: Congress had never authorized the government to force herring fishermen to pay for these monitors. In a historic victory in June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the fishermen, confirming that the government had overstepped its authority.
The fourth branch of government?
The U.S. Constitution established three distinct branches of government: legislative to make laws, executive to implement them, and judicial to interpret them. This careful balance was designed to protect citizens’ freedoms and ensure accountability.
Yet today, the rise of an unofficial “fourth branch” threatens this separation of powers — the administrative state. Over the years, the number of federal agencies has grown by leaps and bounds.
By how much?
Even the government doesn’t know. In fact, official government sources have different estimates:
- Regulations.gov counts 292
- The United States Government Manual estimates 316
- The Federal Register agency list has 440
Forbes detailed this absurdity in its article “How Many Federal Agencies Exist? We Can’t Drain The Swamp Until We Know.”
It’s not just the sheer size of the administrative state that is cause for concern. These agencies also frequently overstep their authority, as in the case of Bill Bright outlined above, reinterpreting legislation in ways that effectively create new laws without congressional approval.
This kind of overreach undermines the legislative branch’s role and diminishes accountability, as unelected bureaucrats impose rules that directly impact citizens’ lives.
How to fight back: The Article I Playbook
The growth of the administrative state represents one of the greatest challenges to our constitutional system of government. To help address this challenge, Americans for Prosperity has developed Article I: A Playbook for Restoring the Separation of Powers.
Our system depends on every citizen staying vigilant against government overreach. This guide shows you exactly how to fight back against unaccountable bureaucracies and restore power where it belongs — with your elected representatives.
Here are six ways Congress can help rein in the runaway administrative state and protect our foundational system of checks and balances:
- The REINS Act: Require significant new regulations to have congressional approval before implementation. We’ve seen momentum building in this area with states like Kansas and Wisconsin passing legislation along the same lines, with other states considering similar reforms.
- The Readable Legislation Act: Reform how federal laws are formatted to clearly show changes, additions, or removals to existing laws, making it easier for Congress and the public to understand new legislation’s intended effects.
- The Article One Act: Ensure congressional oversight of the executive declaration of national emergencies to prevent their misuse and restore accountability in times of crisis.
- Reduce Senate-confirmed positions: Streamline the confirmation process by limiting Senate-approved positions to key leadership roles in Cabinet-level departments, allowing the Senate to focus more on legislation and meaningful oversight.
- Enact regulatory sunset periods: Establish a systematic process for reviewing and either phasing out or renewing regulations. This would reduce regulatory bloat and help Congress maintain effective oversight of existing regulations.
- Prohibit mandatory language in agency guidance: Prevent agencies from using guidance documents to create de facto regulations by requiring them to clearly state that their guidance is not mandatory, except when restating existing laws.
By restoring meaningful limits on the administrative state, we can return control of the laws that govern our lives to the American people, through their elected representatives, instead of unelected bureaucrats. Check out the Article I Playbook to learn how you can help return accountability and trust to our institutions.
