Trump takes axe to federal red tape, cuts 600+ rules in one year, touts billions in savings

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration has cut more than 600 rules and regulations in the past year, while only introducing five new ones in an effort to advance Trump's deregulation priorities, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Trump did not hesitate to take action to cut red tape as soon as he took office - after former President Joe Biden's administration introduced hundreds of new rules every year during his term in the White House. As a result, Trump signed an executive order in January instructing federal agencies to eradicate 10 regulations for every new one implemented. 

As a result, agencies submitted more than 1,300 proposals to OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in 2025 - resulting in a total of 646 deregulatory actions this fiscal year, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

Altogether, the deregulatory actions have amounted to $211.8 billion in net cost savings in fiscal year 2025, translating to more than $600 per American, according to OMB.

WHITE HOUSE HIGHLIGHTS OVER $2B IN SAVINGS FROM DEI CUTS DURING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S FIRST 100 DAYS 

"The Trump Administration's deregulatory agenda is the most ambitious in American history," OMB Director Russ Vought said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We have blown far past the target 10 to 1 deregulatory ratio in President Trump's Executive Order, saving hundreds of billions for the American people."

"In less than one year we have already achieved more savings than in all four years of the prior Trump Administration, and we're just getting started," Vought said. 

Deregulatory actions that the Trump administration has taken this year include eliminating the requirement to remove shoes during Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) airport screenings - saving every passenger roughly two minutes going through TSA. Additionally, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at the Department of the Treasury eliminated a rule for U.S. companies and individuals to report to the government personal information related to business ownership. 

The bulk of deregulatory actions taken occurred at the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration added between roughly 400 and nearly 800 rules each year - which were often coupled with additional regulations, according to a senior administration official. 

Total regulatory costs imposed under the Biden administration snowballed and accumulated to $1.8 trillion during his term in the White House, according to the American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute. 

Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny from Democrats and some Republicans for its deregulatory push. 

Democrats opposed a proposal from Trump's Labor Department to slash more than 60 workplace regulations that encompassed a host of issues, including minimum wage requirements to harmful substance exposure guidelines. 

"Donald Trump is betraying America's workers by forcing people to choose between a paycheck and their safety," Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement in July. "Slashing basic protections like standards to ensure roofs don't collapse, minimum wage for home health care workers, and proper lighting in a construction site won't make workers safer or small businesses stronger - it will just make greedy corporations richer."