Regulatory Backlog Sets Stage for Government Takeover

In a chilling warning, former presidential adviser James M. Landis sounded the alarm about the dire consequences of regulatory agencies’ inability to keep pace with the demand for oversight. On April 3, 1962, Landis cautioned that if the federal regulatory process is not expedited, the US could be headed for a catastrophic consequence: government ownership of the very industries it was meant to regulate. Landis made his remarks at the Administrative Conference of the United States, where a committee report was being considered that would endorse a bill allowing hearing examiners to make final decisions without agency review in specific cases. The bill, sponsored by Senator Carroll of Colorado, aimed to provide much-needed relief for agencies struggling with massive backlogs of cases. Landis emphasized the importance of regulation in a free society, stating, ‘The regulatory process is absolutely necessary to our society.’ He stressed that the US has thus far avoided government ownership of certain industries, unlike some foreign nations, by relying on regulation of private enterprise. However, if the country fails to regulate effectively, ‘the prospect of government ownership stares us in the face.’