Bill Shipley: THIS, dear readers, is how you begin to lift the nail-studded boot of the “Administrative State” off the necks of the citizenry

On May 9, 2025, President Trump took a huge step in addressing what he called the “over-criminalization” of federal regulations. He signed an Executive Order requiring — within the next 365 days — every agency or department of the Executive Branch must provide to the Office of Management and Budget a Report that lists of all criminal regulatory offenses that are enforceable by the agency/department; the range of penalties that may be applied to violations; and whether the regulation creates “strict liability” or does it require “actual knowledge” by the violator. This Report must be posted on the agency/ department webpage, and it must be updated annually to ensure its accuracy. The prosecution of any person under any regulation not published in the Report shall be disfavored. The head of each agency/department must consider whether a regulation is included in the Report before making a criminal referral to DOJ for prosecution based on a violation of a regulation.

In addition, future rule-making by agencies or departments should strive to draft regulations requiring actual knowledge by the alleged violator of the regulated conduct. Any new regulation providing for “strict liability” without actual knowledge must be submitted to OMB for special approval before it can go into effect.