As convention season concludes and the 2024 general election season formally begins, attention should focus on the diverging policy visions of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. In a new insight, Director of Regulatory Policy Dan Goldbeck considers how each is likely to direct federal agencies to implement their respective agendas.

Key points:

• Both the Harris and Trump campaigns provide a historically unique opportunity in this regard, with both candidates claiming a kind of quasi-incumbent quality, either in being the immediate predecessor to the Biden Administration, or its clear heir apparent.
• A President Harris would likely continue the historically expansive regulatory legacy of the Biden Administration, with perhaps the most notable divergence coming in an even greater willingness to leverage the power of the federal government to artificially determine market prices.
• Voters can expect that a once-again President Trump would implement a regulatory policy vision largely mirroring the record established during his previous term – a vigorous series of up-front initiatives and actions seeking to roll back regulatory burdens on various economic issues – albeit, with potentially more aggressive measures on immigration, trade, and various social issues that could impose regulatory costs.

Read the analysis