EDITORIAL: Biden unleashes the administrative attack dogs

Among the colonists grievances, as outlined in the Declaration of Independence, was that Great Britain had “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

There is thus more than a hint of irony that, days after celebrating the nation’s 245th birthday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order potentially ushering in one of the biggest expansions of the federal bureaucracy since the New Deal. The president’s proclamation — intended to promote “competition” — touches virtually every corner of the economy, including health care, technology, agriculture, banking and finance and transportation.

Defenders of the White House order — which gives Biden agency regulators the green light to turn up the heat on the business community — maintain it is necessary to protect consumers from the evils of Big Business and corporate consolidation. In fact — like most heavy-handed government interventions — it is likely to drive up costs, hamper innovation and discourage investment.

“We are concerned about the breadth of issues contemplated in and potential implications of the executive order that could undermine rather than enhance U.S. competitiveness,” Joshua Bolton, CEO of the Business Roundtable, told The Wall Street Journal.

Regulation cost estimates vary widely, but a 2016 report by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University concluded that the U.S. economy in 2012 would have been 25 percent larger had its regulatory burden remained at 1980 levels. That amounts to a loss of real income of $13,000 per American, Forbes notes.

Despite efforts by former President Donald Trump, the American regulatory state continues to spread like kudzu — and Mr. Biden’s order will hasten that proliferation. There is indeed a need for some government oversight in terms of safety and consumer protection, but this administration and its progressive allies respect few boundaries restraining federal power.

We would be remiss, however, if we did not acknowledge at least two silver linings in Mr. Biden’s order.

First, the president urged the Federal Trade Commission to “ban unnecessary occupational licensing restrictions that impede economic mobility.” This is welcome. Many occupational licensing regimes are intended more to protect existing practitioners from competition than to serve a public health function.

Second, the application of the president’s order will result in lawsuits, setting up the Supreme Court to consider the constitutional ramifications of an overactive administrative state creating rules with minimal congressional oversight. And many of the justices may not look favorably on administration efforts to send “hither swarms of Officers” to enforce rules that Congress never debated. At least we can hope.