The government doesn’t just directly charge Americans in taxes—it also imposes a hidden tax that makes everything more expensive, according to a new report.
The federal government doesn’t just pass laws in Congress. Each year, many of the 438 federal agencies—nominally under the president’s control through the executive branch—publish tens of thousands of pages in regulations, red tape that increases the costs of business, transportation, and many other factors Americans often don’t consider.
This imposes a kind of hidden tax that makes everything more expensive. It also justifies the work of the Department of Government Efficiency and other efforts to streamline the federal government, according to Clyde Wayne Crews, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of the annual report, “Ten Thousand Commandments.” Crews released the 2025 version of the report on Thursday.
The report “directly and indirectly makes the case that DOGE or a successor entity—but especially Congress itself through legislation—should be more aggressive on deregulation,” Crews told The Daily Signal on Thursday.
According to the report, federal regulation costs Americans at least $2.155 trillion every year—a cost of $16,016 annually per household. This sum constitutes 16% of the average household’s pre-tax income, and 21% of household expenses. Most American families spend less than that on health care, food, transportation, entertainment, apparel, services, and savings. Only the cost of housing, an average annual household expenditure of $25,436, exceeds the costs of regulation.