In April 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14267, "Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers," directing the FTC, DOJ, and other agencies to identify existing regulations that suppress competition and recommend them for deletion or revision. In September 2025, the FTC answered with a list of regulations it considers anticompetitive and the DOJ announced a joint submission of more than 125 rules to the White House for review.
Headlines called it deregulation. For operators deciding whether to change compliance behavior today, it is something narrower: a published wish list, not a rule change.
What the Order Actually Did
EO 14267 does not repeal any regulation on its own. It instructs agencies to:
- Inventory regulations that create or protect barriers to entry, limit price competition, or entrench incumbents
- Recommend each for retention, revision, or rescission with a competition rationale
- Coordinate through the White House for potential rulemaking or legislative proposals
The FTC's September 2025 response identified categories including occupational licensing constraints, certificate-of-need and similar market-entry approvals, and rules that limit business-model innovation in already-concentrated markets. The DOJ's parallel filing added its own enforcement-relevant regulations. Together the agencies submitted more than 125 rules for White House review — a signal of priorities, not a Federal Register notice.
What Changes Right Now — and What Does Not
Not effective. Inclusion on a deregulation list does not change the Code of Federal Regulations. Until an agency issues a notice of proposed rulemaking, takes comment, and finalizes a rule, the existing regulation remains enforceable and examinable. An FTC consent order that references a listed rule is still in force.
Enforcement posture may shift. The FTC under Chairman Andrew Ferguson has publicly described some Biden-era rules as legally overbroad while defending others, such as the updated Hart-Scott-Rodino filing rule, as a lawful bipartisan update. Enforcement choices will reflect that filtering — but they will be exercised through individual actions and policy statements, not through the list itself.
Rulemaking takes time. Even where the agencies agree a rule is anticompetitive, Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking averages a year or more. Businesses that build plans assuming a rule will be gone in 90 days will be early.
State and self-regulatory rules are outside the order. EO 14267 reaches federal regulations. State licensing boards, state antitrust, and exchange or network rules are not directly affected.
How to Use the Lists Practically
Treat the FTC-DOJ submissions as an early-warning map:
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If you are blocked by a listed regulation, do not stop complying — document the cost it imposes. Quantify the entry cost, delay, or price effect in a one-page memo tied to your general ledger. That memo becomes your comment-letter exhibit and, if the rule is revised, your proof of reliance.
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If you are protected by a listed regulation, model competition without it. A rule that limits new entrants may have supported your margin; if it is rescinded, price pressure follows. Run a sensitivity where the barrier falls 12–18 months out.
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If you are in M&A or expansion, the Hart-Scott-Rodino changes remain in effect. The FTC has defended the current HSR rule as an update, not an overreach. Do not under-resource filings hoping the rule will be unwound before your deal closes.
Keep a single register of which of the 125+ rules touch your operations, the current compliance cost, and the trigger you will watch — a proposed rule, a final rule, or an enforcement statement — before you alter controls.
Simplify Your Financial Management
Regulatory risk is a financial variable: compliance spend today versus penalty and rework risk tomorrow. Beancount.io keeps regulatory costs explicit — by rule, by business unit, in plain text — so when a listed regulation actually changes, you can reallocate spend with a ledger diff, not a spreadsheet rebuild. Get started for free and make deregulation a plan, not a gamble.