January 2026

We’re excited to welcome legal scholar Will Yeatman as research professor and deputy director of the GW Regulatory Studies Center! Will brings almost 20 years of experience in federal regulatory policy and is enthusiastic about working with Susan Dudley, who has returned to the role of director, and the RSC team. We thank outgoing director, Roger Nober, for his service over the last two years and look forward to his continued affiliation. 

In a November 10 discussion with the Regulatory Studies Center, authors of a new book on economic history discussed the lessons gleaned in The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism. Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (Texas) and George Mason University economics professor Don Boudreaux shared insights and explored the transformative power of free markets in conversation with RSC Founder, Professor Susan Dudley.
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On October 20 the Regulatory Studies Center and the Trachtenberg School hosted a conversation with Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Roland Koch. Koch is a Professor of Management Practice in Regulated Environments at the Frankfurt School and director of the Frankfurt Competence Center for German and Global Regulation (FCCR). He served as the 7th Minister President of the State of Hesse from 1999 to 2010 and 53rd President of the Bundesrat. Attendees enjoyed hearing about regulatory and compliance practices in the German finance industry, highlighting the differences from US and EU perspectives. To further the exchange, Professor Susan Dudley rejoined Koch to present at the Frankfurt Regulatory Conference in Germany on October 30.

January 20, 2026
Regulatory insight by Finn Dobkin, Tambudzai Gundani, Henry Hirsch, and Matias Vesperoni

Looking back at the important themes from the previous year, our team finds many highlights from a time of unprecedented change in regulation activity and practice. Read More > | 🎧 Listen to Podcast >

January 15, 2025
Commentary by Will Yeatman

In 2017, during the 115th Congress, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Regulatory Accountability Act. This was a serious effort to significantly update the procedural provisions of the APA for the first time since its enactment in 1946. Read More >

December 30, 2025
Commentary by Will Yeatman & Charles Yates

The Court’s turn to super-deference in VanDerStok cannot be reconciled with its abandonment of the Chevron doctrine. Read More >

December 23, 2025
Public comment by Finn Dobkin

Public comment in response to proposed rule by the Fish and Wildlife Service on listing endangered species. Read More >

December 16, 2025
Article by Steven Balla, Christopher Carrigan, Colin Emrich & Sean Paul in the journal, Governance

Analysis finds that rules proposed early in presidential terms during midnight periods are characterized by expansive opportunities for public participation.
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December 15, 2025
Article by Steven J. Balla, Huang Chen & Yat To Yeung in the Journal of Asian Public Policy

Does public consultation in practice facilitate transparency, participation, and responsiveness in policymaking? Read More >

December 9, 2025
Essay by Susan E. Dudley in the Regulatory Review

President Trump has set an ambitious goal of deregulation but shortcuts that undermine important regulatory principles, such as public engagement and analysis of impacts, may lead to lower quality regulations in the short and long run. Read More >

November 14, 2025
Essay by Roger Nober in Eno Transportation

The Trump administration has made concerted efforts to implement its vision of the unitary executive by making independent regulatory agencies more directly accountable to the president. Read More >

November 12, 2025
Commentary by Stone Washington

Examining the connections of federal agencies and the adjudicate challenges of self-regulatory organizations. Read More >

November 5 2025
Commentary by Tambudzai Gundani

Sessions at the IMF annual meeting considered the adoption of AI and regulatory capacity to guide responsible AI development. Read More >

October 27, 2025
Comment by Finn Dobkin

Comments explaining how existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations on medical billing may disincentivize the adoption of AI tools.  Read More >

The Center hosted a listening session on January 28 convened with the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. The session brings together former agency officials to advise Commission staff on the development of cross-cutting policy and interagency cooperation for regulating biotechnology. The NSCEB released a discussion paper, "Providing Clear Regulatory Pathways for Regulating Biotechnology," earlier this month.

Roger Nober discussed the proposed transcontinental rail merger at the RailTrends 2025 Conference (November 20, 2025). 

Susan Dudley moderated a panel discussion hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank: AI for Better Regulation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenges and Opportunities (November 19, 2025).

SBCA Workshop: Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Law: RSC’s Susan Dudley and Caroline Cecot were among presenters highlighting dynamic legal and regulatory topics at a workshop of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis. (November 18 and 21, 2025).

Roger Nober was a panelist for a webinar hosted by the Federalist Society: Independent Agencies and the OIRA Review Process. (November 14, 2025).

Susan Dudley offered keynote remarks at the annual regulatory conference of the Frankfurt Competence Centre for German and Global Regulation providing a U.S. perspective on deregulation and regulatory reform (October 30, 2025).

Susan Dudley was quoted in the New York Times: Trump’s EPA Has Put a Value on Human Life: Zero Dollars (January 21, 2026).

RegStats data cited in The Atlantic: The Levers Trump Isn’t Using (January 20, 2026).

RegStats data cited on NYTimes Ezra Klein Show: Has Trump Achieved a Lot Less than it Seems? (January 16, 2026).

Aram Gavoor was interviewed on Federal News Network: Authorized Investigations Shouldn’t Mean Unpredictability, Why Transparency and Clear Deadlines Matter for Agency Fairness (January 15, 2026).

Roger Nober was quoted in Reuters: How the US Freight Rail Industry Got Dirtier than Coal Power Plants (December 14, 2025).

Tara Sinclair was quoted in Vox: Gen Z Made Status Symbols Affordable. They’re Just Impossible to Get (November 28, 2025).

Roger Nober was quoted in Ballotpedia News: OIRA Issues New Memo on Deregulation (November 18, 2025).

Tara Sinclair was quoted in the New York Times: Government Reopens Without Data That Guides Markets and the Fed (November 14, 2025).

Steven Balla was quoted in E&E News: Inside the Oil Industry’s Efforts to Sway Regulatory Comment Periods (November 12, 2025).

Listen to our podcast for insights on regulatory trends. Recent discussions have explored the Congressional Review Act, Biden's Data Security executive order, effective public engagement strategies for federal agencies, and more.