STAR USDOT Press Release

Thursday, May 29, 2025
More than 50 burdensome regulations were axed from the Code of Federal Regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy announced today 52 deregulatory actions across Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In total, the deregulatory package will rescind, withdraw, or amend burdensome regulations that do not enhance safety. These actions also help streamline the Code of Federal Regulations by deleting over 73,000 words from the Federal Register.

“Big government has been a big failure. Under President Trump’s leadership, my department is slashing duplicative and outdated regulations that are unnecessarily burdensome, waste taxpayer dollars, and fail to ensure safety,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “These are common sense changes that will help us build a more efficient government that better reflects the needs of the American people.”

These sensible deregulatory actions primarily target redundant and decade-old rules that have no real-life application. This includes cutting duplicative provisions at FHWA for construction contracts and axing an outdated rule under FMCSA which requires a paper copy of an Electronic Logging Device’s operator’s manual even when it can be found online. Another FMCSA change would ensure military technicians – who undergo rigorous military driver trainings – are not unfairly burdened by duplicative civilian commercial driver’s license requirements when operating commercial trucks for military purposes.

Other common sense changes to help ensure safety for our children include a proposed amendment to use a properly sized crash test dummy in NHTSA’s car seat side impact tests. The proposed amendments will also help car seat manufacturers streamline development and testing to ensure sufficient availability of car seats for children to travel safely.

Of the 52 deregulatory actions, 43 are at the Notice Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) stage, seven are final rules, and two are withdrawals of rulemaking actions. All 52 deregulatory actions will increase efficiencies without compromising safety for the American people.

Read the full press release here: https://www.dot.nm.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/May-29-2025-USDOT-Press-Release.pdf