[JURIST] US President Donald Trump [official profile] on Monday signed an executive order [text] aimed at reducing the number of federal regulations. The executive order requires two regulations to be eliminated for every new one created and caps the costs of new regulations, which, according to White House officials, will spur economic growth. According to the executive order:

Unless prohibited by law, whenever an executive department or agency publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed. [Furthermore], for fiscal year 2017, which is in progress, the heads of all agencies are directed that the total incremental cost of all new regulations, including repealed regulations, to be finalized this year shall be no greater than zero.

The president presented the executive order at a meeting where he spoke [WSJ report] to small business leaders about not “need[ing] 97 different rules to take care of one element.” Trump continued that “we’ll be reducing [regulations] big league and their damaging effects on our small businesses, our economy and our entrepreneurial spirit. … The American dream is back, and we’re going to create an environment for small business like we haven’t had in many, many decades.”

Monday’s executive order follows in the wake of several highly controversial executive actions signed by the president since his inauguration on January 20. Last week the president signed an executive order to withdraw the US [JURIST report] from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim Nations signed a year ago. Also last week Trump signed [JURIST report] an order preventing foreign non-governmental organizations from receiving US funding if they provide abortions or promote policies that may lead to abortions. Trump has also addressed immigration in his orders, signing an order [JURIST report] that withholds federal funding to cities that provide safe haven to illegal immigrants and another directing the construction of a wall along the US and Mexican border and an increase in the number of enforcement officials to remove undocumented immigrants.