The federal government just released the 2026 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, its twice-yearly roadmap of the rules agencies plan to propose, finalize, or withdraw. This edition catalogs 3,954 planned actions across 76 agencies, and the theme is unmistakable: this is one of the most deregulatory agendas in years. Roughly 40% of the actions (1,584) carry the “Deregulatory” designation under Executive Order 14192, against just 318 designated Regulatory.
What the Unified Agenda is
Published each spring and fall, the Unified Agenda compiles the forward-looking regulatory plans of federal departments and agencies. Each entry includes the rule’s abstract, its projected timetable, the agency’s legal authority, and a unique Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) you can use to follow it across the Federal Register and Reginfo.gov. The fall edition also includes the Regulatory Plan, where each agency states its most significant priorities for the coming year. This year, agencies elevated 189 actions to the Regulatory Plan. It is the closest thing to an official preview of where federal regulation is headed, though the timetables are projections and can shift.
Why this edition stands out
The deregulatory tilt traces to Executive Order 14192, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.” It sets a 10-for-1 rule: for every new regulation an agency proposes, it must identify at least 10 existing regulations to repeal, and the net cost of new regulation for the year must come in “significantly less than zero.” OMB’s implementing memo, M-25-20, is what funneled those deregulatory actions into this edition of the Agenda..
That is why many of the marquee entries are not new rules at all. They are formal moves to repeal, rescind, or reconsider regulations finalized over the last few years. More than 2,400 actions sit in the proposed or final rule stage, but a stage reflects where a rule falls in the pipeline, not that a notice has published. Most of this is still ahead: agencies project the bulk of these milestones for 2026 or later, and only a few hundred of the proposed-stage entries have reached the Federal Register so far. In other words, the 2026 Agenda is a preview of the year to come, which is exactly why it pays to track the specific rules you follow.
The savings the government is projecting
How big is the push, by the administration’s own math? In its introduction to the Regulatory Plan, OIRA projects that the deregulatory agenda will deliver a record $1.5 trillion in cost savings in fiscal year 2026, up from the $211.8 billion it credits to fiscal year 2025. Those are the government’s own projections rather than independently verified totals, but they signal the scale of what agencies are aiming for.
Where the biggest rollbacks are
The deregulatory push runs across nearly every sector:
- Banking and finance: Federal Reserve and FDIC bank capital rules and the CFPB’s small business lending rule (1071).
- Employment and labor: the FTC Non-Compete Rule, the Labor Department’s independent contractor and joint employer standards, and EEOC’s EEO-1 reporting.
- Energy and environment: EPA’s Carbon Pollution Standards, the greenhouse gas Endangerment Finding, and a new Waters of the United States definition.
- Health care: CMS minimum staffing standards for nursing homes and the FDA’s Laboratory Developed Tests rule.
It is not only rollbacks
Even in a deregulatory edition, agencies are still advancing new requirements, and 1,119 actions appear in the Agenda for the first time. That mix is exactly why the Agenda matters. The rules being pulled back and the rules being added both change your obligations, and most of them carry comment periods where you can weigh in before anything is final.
What it means for your team
Whether a rule you rely on is being rescinded or a new one is being proposed, the practical questions are the same: which stage is it in, when is the next milestone, and is there an open comment period. The Agenda gives you the roadmap. The work is watching the specific RINs that matter to you as they move, so a repeal or a proposal never catches you off guard.
Two ways to dig in
We compiled the entire edition into a single, searchable reference. You can download the free 2026 Unified Agenda compendium, every action, abstract, and timetable in one document.
Prefer to work with it live? The full agenda is searchable in the Regulation Roundup dashboard. Filter straight to the deregulatory actions, drill into any rule, and set an alert to be notified the moment a rule you follow advances a stage.