The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory execution.
A total of 80,756 pages were added to the Federal Register in 2022. The page total will likely decrease after the National Archives processes the blanks and skips and finalizes the publication.
The 2022 Federal Register included the following 28,033 documents:
- 22,505 notices
- 316 presidential documents
- 2,044 proposed rules
- 3,168 final rules.
The Biden administration added a total of 74,532 pages to the Federal Register in 2021. The 2022 page total exceeded the 2021 page total by 6,224 pages.
According to government data, the Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016. The lowest recorded page total since 2001 was 61,950 pages in 2017.
The 2022 Federal Register ranks as the second-lowest final rule count since the 1970s, with 3,168 final rules. The lowest final rule count since the 1970s was 2,964 final rules in 2019 under the Trump administration.
The total number of proposed rules and final rules decreased from last year. The Biden administration issued 2,094 proposed rules in 2021, which decreased to 2,044 proposed rules in 2022. The administration issued 3,257 final rules in 2021, which decreased to 3,168 final rules in 2022.
A total of 498 significant documents were added to the Federal Register in 2022, including 241 proposed rules, 252 final rules, and five notices. This is a notable increase from previous years. In 2021, 309 significant documents were added to the Federal Register, including 129 proposed rules, 176 final rules, and four notices. In 2020, the Trump administration added 109 significant documents to the Federal Register, including 34 proposed rules, 74 final rules, and one notice. In 2019, the Trump administration added 121 significant documents, including 54 proposed rules, 66 final rules, and one notice.
Click here to find more information about weekly additions to the Federal Register in 2018 and 2017: https://ballotpedia.org/Changes_to_the_Federal_Register
Click here to find yearly information about additions to the Federal Register from 1936 to 2019: https://ballotpedia.org/Historical_additions_to_the_Federal_Register,_1936-2019
Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.