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Administrative state 2025 legislation: Executive summary

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August 20, 2025
By Ballotpedia staff

Administrative State
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Five Pillars of the Administrative State
•Agency control
• Executive control
• Judicial control
•Legislative control
• Public Control
Click here for more coverage of the administrative state on Ballotpedia.
Click here to access Ballotpedia's administrative state legislation tracker.

Launched in May 2024, Ballotpedia's Administrative State Legislation Tracker covers bills across all 50 states that increase or decrease agency authority and influence or otherwise affect the administrative state.

The tracker categorizes bills according to topic and subtopic, bill status, sponsor, state trifecta status, bill number, and more. The tracker also features custom summaries of each bill.

This report presents findings and analysis from 2025 state legislative sessions on administrative state-related legislation.

Executive summary

Ballotpedia defines the administrative state as the phenomenon of administrative agencies exercising the power to create, adjudicate, and enforce rules.

Ballotpedia tracked 2,038 bills and resolutions in all 50 states related to the administrative state in 2025.

42 states adopted or enacted 337 of those bills or resolutions (including seven through veto overrides).

  • 37 states passed 144 that decreased agency control.
  • 37 states passed 128 that increased agency control.
  • 56 bills and resolutions did not clearly increase or decrease agency control.
  • 9 bills and resolutions increased agency control in some ways and decreased it in others.

Many bills that increase or decrease agency power do so for a specific topic, agency, industry, or program, while others – such as those addressing REINS, judicial deference, rulemaking processes, and oversight – apply to all or most agencies in the state.

Partisan breakdown of new laws decreasing agency control:

  • 19 Republican trifectas passed 92 bills (64%).
  • 10 Democratic trifectas passed 26 bills (18%).
  • 8 divided governments enacted 26 bills (18%).

Partisan breakdown of new laws increasing agency power:

  • 18 Republican trifectas enacted 73 bills (57%).
  • 11 Democratic trifectas enacted 36 bills (28%).
  • 8 divided governments enacted 19 bills (15%).

Ballotpedia analyzes administrative agency actions and the policies governing them according to how the agencies interact with the three branches of government, the public, and each other. Ballotpedia calls these the five pillars of the administrative state.

In the legislative control pillar, lawmakers in 23 states passed 47 bills and resolutions addressing legislative review and oversight of agency rulemaking and delegation to agencies.

In the judicial control pillar, lawmakers in nine states passed nine bills.

  • Five states (Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas) passed bills to prohibit or limit judicial deference to agency interpretations.
  • Other legislation in this pillar concerned expanding possible venues for challenges to agency rulings (Nebraska) and directing the review of federal agency regulations upheld through recently overturned federal Chevron deference standards (Utah).

In the executive control pillar, lawmakers in 14 states approved 22 bills.

  • This pillar included reforms to the process for appointing and removing agency officials and gubernatorial review and oversight requirements for agency regulations.
  • Bills in Oklahoma and Louisiana required gubernatorial approval for rules, and one in Vermont required gubernatorial approval for immigration agreements.

In the public control pillar, lawmakers in 37 states passed 139 bills, including those related to procedural rights, public commentary and transparency, enforcement, adjudication, and topics such as occupational licensing, permitting, and regulatory initiation.

  • This pillar included regulatory sandboxes, permitting and licensing provisions, and public notice and commentary requirements. Many bills in this pillar are specific to one topic, certain agencies, or particular industries.

In the agency control pillar, 38 states approved 212 bills.

  • These included the creation of regulatory reduction agencies, the elimination and creation of agencies, restrictions on state agencies, and bills related to federal agency rules and guidance.
  • This pillar included bills related to government efficiency, including the following reform proposals:
    • Some establish an entity in the executive branch to oversee other agencies.
    • Some require agencies to report hiring practices or employee performance metrics.
    • One was designed to prevent the federal Department of Government Efficiency from accessing personal identifying information.

Ballotpedia also tracked 129 federal bills related to the administrative state in the 119th Congress so far, including legislation related to public disclosure, guidance documents, legislative review of agency actions, and government efficiency initiatives.

Ballotpedia's Administrative State Legislation Tracker

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Keeping track of the latest administrative state developments in all 50 state legislatures with Ballotpedia's Administrative State Legislation Tracker.

Ballotpedia's Administrative State Legislation Tracker allows you to track, query, and analyze hundreds of bills and resolutions affecting the authority and influence of agencies and agency rulemaking. Whether you're watching for specific reform policies, looking for trends, or keeping up-to-date on the changes in the administrative state landscape, our administrative state legislation tracker is your easy-to-use and flexible solution.

See also

v • e
The Administrative State
MainThe Administrative State Project Badge.png
Pillars
Reporting
Laws
Administrative Procedure Act • Antiquities Act • Civil Service Reform Act • Clayton Antitrust Act • Communications Act of 1934 • Congressional Review Act • Electronic Freedom of Information Act • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 • Federal Housekeeping Statute • Federal Reserve Act • Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Freedom of Information Act • Government in the Sunshine Act • Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 • Information Quality Act • Interstate Commerce Act • National Labor Relations Act • Paperwork Reduction Act • Pendleton Act • Privacy Act of 1974 • Regulatory Flexibility Act • REINS Act • REINS Act (Wisconsin) • Securities Act of 1933 • Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • Sherman Antitrust Act • Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act • Truth in Regulating Act • Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Cases
Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner • A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States • Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp • Auer v. Robbins • Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe • Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California • Field v. Clark • Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation • Humphrey's Executor v. United States • Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha • J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States • Lucia v. SEC • Marshall v. Barlow's • Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency • Mistretta v. United States • National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company • National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. • Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan • Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation • Skidmore v. Swift & Co. • United States v. Lopez • United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. • Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board • Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Wayman v. Southard • Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service • Whitman v. American Trucking Associations • Wickard v. Filburn • Wiener v. United States
Terms
Adjudication (administrative state) • Administrative judge • Administrative law • Administrative law judge • Administrative state • Arbitrary-or-capricious test • Auer deference • Barrier to entry • Bootleggers and Baptists • Chevron deference (doctrine) • Civil servant • Civil service • Code of Federal Regulations • Codify (administrative state) • Comment period • Compliance costs • Congressional Record • Coordination (administrative state) • Deference (administrative state) • Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) • Enabling statute • Ex parte communication (administrative state) • Executive agency • Federal law • Federal Register • Federalism • Final rule • Formal rulemaking • Formalism (law) • Functionalism (law) • Guidance (administrative state) • Hybrid rulemaking • Incorporation by reference • Independent federal agency • Informal rulemaking • Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) • Major rule • Negotiated rulemaking • Nondelegation doctrine • OIRA prompt letter • Organic statute • Pragmatism (law) • Precautionary principle • Promulgate • Proposed rule • Publication rulemaking • Regulatory budget • Regulatory capture • Regulatory dark matter • Regulatory impact analysis • Regulatory policy officer • Regulatory reform officer • Regulatory review • Rent seeking • Retrospective regulatory review • Risk assessment (administrative state) • Rulemaking • Separation of powers • Significant regulatory action • Skidmore deference • Statutory authority • Substantive law and procedural law • Sue and settle • Sunset provision • Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions • United States Code • United States Statutes at Large
Bibliography
Agencies
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