This may be one of the most important EOs in a White House that has published so many important EOs. This one is "Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations."

At the heart of this order is the recognition of a troubling reality in American legal life: the Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections spanning more than 175,000 pages – an impossibly vast collection for any citizen to fully comprehend, yet one that carries criminal penalties for violations. The Executive Order specifically discourages criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses, prioritizing prosecutions only for those who knowingly violate regulations and cause significant harm.

Many readers of this newsletter will at least have heard of Harvey Silverglate's influential book "Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent." In his work, Silverglate argues that federal criminal laws have become "dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition" and that prosecutors can pin "arguable federal crimes" on virtually any American, even for seemingly innocuous behavior. The title refers to Silverglate's assertion that the average professional unwittingly commits multiple federal crimes daily due to the sheer breadth and vagueness of federal regulations.

The Trump order specifically addresses this problem by requiring each agency to provide a comprehensive list of all enforceable criminal regulatory offenses, including potential penalties and the mental state required for liability. It tries to set a standard whereby only violations that can be proven to be intentional will be prosecuted.

This EO represents a long-overdue protection for ordinary Americans against an increasingly complex and punitive regulatory state. It recognizes that criminalizing technical violations of obscure regulations that citizens can't reasonably be expected to know creates an unjust system. As the White House fact sheet notes, "The situation is absurd, unjust, and ripe for abuse, enabling government officials to target unwitting individuals and weaponize regulations against them."

The impact of this order could be profound. By requiring greater transparency around criminally enforceable regulations and focusing enforcement on willful violations, it makes significant progress toward addressing what Silverglate described as the "troubling form of social control by the executive branch." For small businesses, professionals, and average citizens trying to navigate the labyrinth of federal regulations, this represents a meaningful step toward a more fair and comprehensible legal system where Americans won't face criminal penalties for honest mistakes.

Policy News You Need To Know

#TheEconomyStupid — JP Morgan has repealed its previous call that the US was headed for a recession this year.

#Reg — President Trump has signed into law (through the Congressional Review Act) a provision that nullifies the CFPB rule capping overdraft fees at $5 for banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets. We're aware of the free-market arguments against such a rule, but, well, this isn't very populist, is it.

#Nuclear #Energy — The nuclear community is aghast at a version of the reconciliation bill that phases out tax credits for new nuclear plants. Specifically, it slashes tax credits by 80% for nuclear plants opening after 2029 and eliminates them entirely for those after 2031. Given the tremendous upfront costs required in building nuclear plants, the Administration's stated intent of building energy abundance, and specifically through improved nuclear, requires some sort of taxpayer support.

#Telecoms #5G — The FCC's Brendan Carr has sent a strongly-worded letter to EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen. EchoStar, which includes Boost Mobile and Dish Network, received a 5G license contingent on an obligation to roll out 5G nationwide, which hasn't happened. People will be critical of the letter because Elon Musk has publicly criticized EchoStar for allegedly failing to make proper use of its 5G spectrum allocation, and Elon Musk is prominent in the Administration, but the criticisms leveled at EchoStar seem to be factually correct to us. The letter comes at a time when 5G deployment is critical for U.S. competitiveness and connectivity. Rural areas, in particular, suffer from a lack of high-speed internet. The Biden Administration's attempts to roll out broadband to rural areas have been a notable disaster. The FCC seems justified in pushing companies like EchoStar to either use their spectrum to provide these services or relinquish the licenses so others (including perhaps potentially Starlink) can.

#Chyna — Marian L. Tupy of Cato has a good op-ed in the WSJ on the issue of China's rare earths, the gist of which is that there are possible workarounds around China's alleged monopoly of key rare earths.

#Immigration — DHS has terminated Afghanistan's Temporary Protected Status designation. All Biden-era Afghan alleged refugees must now leave the US.