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Regulations issued by President Biden during his first year in office will cost $201 billion and add 131 million hours in annual paperwork, far exceeding the first-year outcomes of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, according to an analysis released Thursday.

The American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute that has tracked regulatory costs since 2005, said a vehicle emissions rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency was by far the most costly rule, at $180 billion.

It nudged Mr. Bidens total regulatory costs to three times that of Mr. Obamas first-year total of $65 billion and 40 times that of Mr. Trump, who made cutting red tape a signature part of his first-year agenda by requiring two rules to be rescinded for every new one implemented.

Fundamentally, were looking at a Republican administration that sought to reduce the size and scope of government, and Democrat administrations that grow it, said Michael Bars, a former senior communications adviser in the Trump White House. Trump wasted no time undoing the heavy-handed rulemaking of the Obama administration, and Biden predictably came ready to put it right back.

The deluge of paperwork hours under Mr. Biden is largely due to a pair of COVID-19 rules issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the forum said.

The Supreme Court stayed the second of those rules, which would have required large companies to test unvaccinated workers, meaning the burden might ease after the litigation is resolved.

For now, Mr. Bidens first-year paperwork total of 131 million additional hours outstrips the Obama total of 26 million hours and the Trump total of 8 million hours.

The span of January 21, 2021, through January 20, 2022, represented a historically prodigious year in the realm of regulatory activity. Federal agencies under the Biden administration produced regulatory costs and paperwork burdens that exceeded the Year One totals produced under the past two administrations many times over, wrote the forums Dan Goldbeck, a senior regulatory policy analyst, and Dan Bosch, director of regulatory policy.

Democrats are likely to cheer Mr. Bidens pivot from Trump-era deregulation, but the GOP held up the analysis as a sign the new administration is bad for business and the economy.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee said Thursday they are particularly concerned about drug price controls as written in Mr. Bidens social welfare bill, which is stuck in Congress but might be passed in smaller pieces.

The tax-and-spending proposal currently under consideration would double down on this concerning trend toward over-regulation and advance a series of sweeping new government mandates for stakeholders across the health care system, the senators wrote in a letter to colleagues.

Also Thursday, the forum said Mr. Biden signed the most executive orders of any president in his first year since Gerald Ford 77 placing him slightly ahead of Mr. Obamas first year total and Mr. Trump, who issued fewer than 60 in his first year, according to the forum.

More than a third of Mr. Bidens orders were related to COVID-19 or mentioned the pandemic, researchers said.

Other topics included climate change, efforts to reverse Trump administration regulatory policies, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and equity advancements for several historically disadvantaged and marginalized communities, the forum said.

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Biden's first-year regulations more costly, time-consuming than Trump's, Obama's: analysis - Washington Times

First lady Jill BidenJill BidenThe Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Biden talks, Senate balks Jill Biden adds to communications team in lead-up to midterm elections Harris invokes MLK in voting rights push, urges Senate to 'do its job' MORE is adding to her communications team as the East Wing prepares for Novembers midterm elections.

Michael LaRosa, the first ladys spokesperson, confirmed to The Hill early Thursday that Kelsey Donohue will join the first ladys communications team in February.

An alum of the Obama administration, Donohue worked as then-first lady Michelle ObamaMichelle LeVaughn Robinson ObamaJill Biden adds to communications team in lead-up to midterm elections Michelle Obama: 'Treat fear as a challenge' Barack Obama wishes a happy 58th birthday to 'best friend' Michelle MOREs assistant press secretary between January 2015 and January 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Donohue will oversee Bidens digital media efforts and help bolster her issue portfolio and public engagement communications,according toAxios, which first reported on the new hire.

The official White House website saysBiden"continues her work for education, military families, and fighting cancer" as first lady. Biden is also a writing professor at Northern Virginia Community College.

We are excited for Kelsey to join our small but nimble team! LaRosa told Axios. There are three members on the first ladys communications team, according to Axios.

Donohue is currently employed by social media company Snap Inc., and previously served as the director of communications at the Harvard Kennedy Schools Institute of Politics.

Afteralmost a year in the White House, and with midterms 10 months away, Biden has already spent plenty of time on the road on behalf of the White House.

Bidenstumped for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in October during his campaign for Virginia governor, a race he ultimately lost to Republican Glenn YoungkinGlenn YoungkinVirginia exits multi-state coalition backing EPA in climate lawsuit Virginia universities lift vaccine mandates after Youngkin's order Jill Biden adds to communications team in lead-up to midterm elections MORE.

Biden has thus far traveled to 35 states, more than 60 cities and a total of three countries, according to Axios.

Updated at 9:17 a.m.

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Jill Biden adds to communications team in lead-up to midterm elections | TheHill - The Hill

As many people now know, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. As shared by the Miller Center, his parents, Ann Dunham and Barack Obama, Sr., met as students at the University of Hawaii. However, his father didn't live with the young family for long following his son's birth; the elder Obama left Hawaii when his son was only 2 years old and eventually moved back to his native Kenya.

Barack Obama has been open about the questions he wrestled with after his father left; he opened up about those questions in his book with Bruce Springsteen, "Renegades: Born in the USA" (viaThe Guardian). While speaking about men and boys in the United States, Obama said of his generation, "There was never a full reckoning of who our dads were, what they had in them, how we have to understand that and talk about that. What lessons we should learn from it. All that kind of got buried."

Despite his father's absence, Obama was emotionally and physically supported by his mother and her parents, who also lived in Hawaii.

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The Stunning Transformation Of Barack Obama - The List

MSNBC's Chuck Todd said Tuesday that based on past metrics of job approval and the American people's impression of the country's direction, President Biden and Democrats could be heading into the midterm in "shellacking territory," such as what was seen during the 2010 midterms during former President Obama's first term in the White House.

"Basically, there are three poll numbers you can follow nationally that will tell you the likely shape of these midterm elections, its 1) direction of the country, right track [or] wrong track, the 2) presidential job rating and the 3) generic ballot," Todd said.

"And right now, two of the three that we track are sitting there in shellacking territory, so it'll be a lot of fun as we track throughout the year."

Todd cited an NBC poll from October 2021 that showed 71% of respondents didn't approve of the country's direction. "That's in big-time shellacking territory," he said.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY ON BIDEN'S STUNNING POLL NUMBERS: 'THIS IS A FIVE-ALARM FIRE'

The other metric, Biden's job approval which sat at 42% also puts the Democratic Party in political peril, according to Todd.

President Biden (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Comparatively, in 2010 60% of Americans (compared to Biden's 70%) thought that the country was headed in the wrong direction. The presidential approval was at 45% (compared to Biden's 42%).

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Beyond the NBC poll, a more recent Quinnipiac poll found Biden's approval to be at 33%. In response, Todd said, "Every time I think the WhiteHouse thought theyve hit bottomthere seems to be a new bottom."

The poll found the majority of Americans are disappointed in the president's handling of COVID-19, foreign policy, and the economy. The poll reflects historic inflation, the widely-criticized withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Biden's failure to "shut down the virus" as he promised during the 2020 elections.

Taliban fighters pose in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

A Fox Business poll found in December that the majority of Americans said 2021 was a bad year for their families and that they were not hopeful about the country's future.

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MSNBC's Chuck Todd: Biden and Democrats could be heading for an Obama-era 'shellacking' in the midterms - Fox News

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer. Photo: Getty Images

Groundhog Day came a bit early, and a bit retro, for Democrats this year. Bill and Hillary peek their heads out, reads the headline of Fridays Politico Playbook. It goes on to report that former president Bill Clinton and former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have emerged from their hibernation and saw an opportunity to insert themselves back into political life. With President Joe Bidens agenda stalled, the pair hopes to flextheir centrist, dealmaking brand of politics to usher it through Congress and deliver Democrats from midterm disaster. Per Politico:

Bill Clintonhas relished the opportunityto whip on behalf of the White House. In addition to pressing Manchinon the filibuster, Clinton suggested that he should salvage Build Back Better by zeroing in on the few elements the West Virginia senator really wants.

I told Joe, Break it up, pick one or two [pieces] you can swallowand then run on the rest, Clinton recalled of their phone call, a person with knowledge of the conversation told Playbook. The idea is drawing interest among party leadership.

Clinton also spoke with Sinemarecently, according to one of the people familiar with the call, and said afterward, I dont know her, but I like her.

The Clintons have gotten a lot of flak for their efforts to remain relevant despite Hillarys 2016 loss and the reappraisal of Bills conduct in light of the Me Too movement as well as new revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. These efforts are often cringe-inducing, like Hillarys MasterClass on the power of resilience or their new idea to revive the Clinton Global Initiatives annual star-studded confab, as reported in Playbook. But their attempt to rescue Bidens imperiled agenda actually seems fine? Even smart? It puts their connections and influence to good use, and the Democrats filibuster reform and Build Back Better initiatives are in such bad shape that things cant get much worse.

However, there is one small potential drawback that Biden should keep in mind when letting the Big Dog loose to plug his agenda: He can be a little too eager. Clinton memorably demonstrated this in December 2010 when he was invited to join then-President Barack Obama in the White House Briefing Room. It seems the plan was for Clinton to make a quick cameo to plug Obamas tax-cut deal with Republicans. Im going to let him speak very briefly, Obama said after delivering his own stiff remarks for a few minutes.

Instead, Clinton took over the podium and held court for about half an hour, hanging around well after Obama exited to attend a holiday party.First of all, I feel awkward being here, and now youre going to leave me all by myself? Clinton joked, drawing a laugh from Obama. The former president said he still spent about an hour a day trying to study this economy and went on to prove it, pontificating about the deals benefits for about nine minutes before taking his first question from a reporter.

Obama, who had been standing off to the side of the podium with an amused look on his face, took the opportunity to make his exit. Ive been keeping the First Lady waiting for about half an hour, so Im going to take off, he said.

Well, I dont want to make her mad, Clinton joked. Please go.

As he left, Obama said Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, would call last question. It turns out this was a smart move because Clinton kept going, leaning over the podium as he comfortably called on reporters by name. For the next 20 minutes, Clinton fielded about a dozen questions on a variety of topics from Haiti to a new START treaty. One reporter noted that Clinton seemed to be more comfortable giving advice than governing. Oh, I had quite a good time governing, Clinton responded. I am happy to be here, I suppose, when the bullets that are fired are unlikely to hit me, unless theyre just ricocheting.

It doesnt seem Obama, famously less extroverted than his predecessor, minded being upstaged. Two years later, Obama turned to Clinton to help boost his 2012 reelection bid, famously dubbing him his secretary of explaining stuff. Clinton made campaign appearances across the country, helmed fundraisers, and delivered an impressive convention speech; at the time, one top Obama aide described it to New York as the most important moment of the campaign so far.

Biden should remember that deploying Clinton as your unofficial understudy can be quite effective. Hes prepared, hes smooth, and hes usually available. You just have to tell him when to take a bow.

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The Time Clinton Took Over Obamas White House Podium and Stayed Awhile - New York Magazine