H.R. 1226, Rep. Stutzman's bill, doesn't slash the number of federal workers in their cubicles, but it limits their power and authority to rule your life.
The Restoring Checks and Balances Act would provide relief to American taxpayers by curbing excessive rulemaking among federal agencies.
The bill has three main components:
It requires rules issued by executive agencies to sunset – to expire – after five years unless reauthorized by Congress.
It prohibits agencies from reissuing, enforcing, revising or taking regulatory action on rules that have expired.
It requires agencies seeking reauthorization to submit full justification, related rules and congressional committee recommendations.
The bill got a salute from President Donald Trump in his recent joint address before the House and Senate.
“His comment was that for every new regulation, 10 need to be removed. What mine actually does is to sunset after five years every regulation that the executive branch administers,” Stutzman said on American Family Radio Wednesday.
$1.8 trillion traced to D.C. regulation
A recent study by the American Action Forum found that regulatory costs during the Biden administration exceeded $1.8 trillion – far more than any other administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency was the main contributor of regulatory costs with more than $1.3 trillion, but multiple agencies had sizeable sets of rules that passed the billion-dollar threshold, the report found.
A handful of agencies issued a series of notable reporting requirements that added up to roughly 356 million new hours of paperwork over the course of Biden’s term.
That’s manpower small businesses could use someplace else.
“We have a bloated government. We have a government that has grown out of control. There's no accountability. There's no one overseeing what our federal government is spending until now with the Trump administration and the Doge team,” Stutzman said. “We need a colonoscopy for the federal government.”
Complicating a label for a beef stick
Government regulations are a “huge wet blanket” on the economy, Stutzman, whose family background is raising beef and pork, said.
He has experienced this firsthand as a businessman in the food industry, most recently with raising Waygu beef cattle.
Sometimes the problem is not only the regulations but the federal workers tasked with their oversight.
“For example, we were trying to get just a simple label for a beef stick product that we produce, and it was like nine to twelve months just to get good answers for us to be able to add that label to be able to sell it to our customers,” he said.
Despite the frustration, Stutzman said he could understand and agree with the purpose for this particular regulation.
“It was just getting an answer from a bureaucrat in Washington that just held stuff up and sometimes (they) didn't even know what the answer was," he recalled. "They just made it up as they went.”
That’s the type of inefficiency Stutzman believes his bill will prevent: Reducing or eliminating the overlap of regulations that burden and choke small businesses.
When an agency proves to Congress the worth of an expired regulation, it can be reauthorized, he said.
“It’s becoming too much for the American people. What Trump is doing and where we’re going in Congress is to get the government off peoples’ backs,” Stutzman said.
In 2017, during his first White House term, Trump signed an executive order requiring a thorough examination of every executive department and agency to identify waste and how services could be improved.
A leaner and more efficient federal government was a big part of his reelection campaign in 2024.
Trump has also suggested the possibility of eliminating the federal income tax in favor of a more tariff-based system.
Reviews have been mixed on Trump’s tariffs so far. Sometimes the response depends on how the question is asked.
Tariffs as a tool
Tariffs, or their threat, has spurred action from other governments and are playing a role in making America more efficient.
“I support the president's efforts and using the tariffs as a tool. It’s incredible to see how effectively he has used tariffs to negotiate, to get Canada and Mexico to start supporting us at the borders and stop the drug trafficking and the human trafficking and the sex trafficking that we all know is going on at the border,” Stutzman said.
Tariffs have helped Trump protect Americans by stabilizing the border and returning jobs to the U.S., Stutzman said, noting Honda’s decision to move its Civic manufacturing plant from Mexico to Indiana.
Hyundai and Kia have made similar decisions.
“Eventually, I think what's going to happen is everybody's going to start lowering their tariffs, and the markets are going to stabilize, and it's going to be better for America,” Stutzman said.
