Federal Register weekly update: Tops 60,000 pages


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 activity, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.

From Aug. 28, 2023, through Sept. 1, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 2,070 pages for a year to-date total of 60,564 pages.

The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.

This week’s Federal Register featured the following 587 documents:

  • 478 notices
  • Two presidential documents
  • 42 proposed rules
  • 65 final rules

Four proposed rules, including proposed amendments to the Representatives of Employers and Employees regulation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and 11 final rules, including established requirements for mandatory state reporting of the Core Set of Children’s Health Care Quality Measures for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, were deemed significant under E.O. 12866, as amended by E.O. 14094—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration in 2023 has issued 246 significant proposed rules, 185 significant final rules, and seven significant notices as of Sept. 1.

Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic coverage that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The coverage area also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.

Click here to find more information about weekly additions to the Federal Register in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017: Changes to the Federal Register

Additional reading:

Click here to find yearly information about additions to the Federal Register from 1936 to 2021: Historical additions to the Federal Register, 1936-2021