How the Federal Register Grew Up
From Modest Beginnings to a Modern Beast
Last year, I launched the Federal Register Rundown to help make monitoring and understanding federal regulatory actions easier. As I dove deeper into the daily agency actions, I found myself wondering—where did the Federal Register even come from? How did it start, and how did it grow into the massive online publication we know today? What I discovered is a fascinating (ahem…nerdy) journey that takes us from its modest 16-page debut in 1936 to the 107,262-page behemoth we navigated in 2024. Let’s take a closer look at how it all began and what the Federal Register has become.
How It All Began: The Perfect Storm
The Federal Register was born out of a regulatory crisis. By the early 1930s, federal agencies were issuing rules left and right, but there was no centralized system to track or publish them. The chaos culminated in a 1934 Supreme Court case, where regulations being enforced technically didn’t exist in written form. Whoopsie!
Recognizing the need for reform, Congress passed the Federal Register Act of 1935, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law. The first issue of the Federal Register was published on March 14, 1936, with just 16 pages, establishing a central record for executive orders, proclamations, and regulations. For the first time, Americans had a clear and accessible way to understand the rules that governed their lives.
The Federal Register’s First Year: Modest and Manageable
By the end of its first full year in 1937, the Federal Register had grown to 3,450 pages, reflecting the government’s focused priorities at the time. These regulations provide a snapshot of what was happening in 1937:
Florida Celery Marketing Regulation (June 10, 1937): The Department of Agriculture proposed a marketing agreement to regulate the handling of celery grown in Florida. This regulation aimed to control shipments, manage supply, and stabilize prices through a Control Board. It even included provisions for proration limits and administration fees—a surprisingly detailed focus on celery!
Bituminous Coal Pricing Adjustments (December 30, 1937): The National Bituminous Coal Commission issued regulations revising market area descriptions and price schedules for coal under the Bituminous Coal Act of 1937. These rules reflected the federal government’s intervention in stabilizing key industries during the New Deal era.
While these regulations addressed specific economic and agricultural issues, the process for creating them was vastly different from today. In 1937, public comment periods were nonexistent, and agencies developed rules behind closed doors with limited opportunity for external feedback. Cost-benefit analysis was not yet a formal requirement, so economic trade-offs often went unexamined. Federalism considerations took a backseat as the federal government expanded its reach during the New Deal, with little attention paid to the impact on state and local governance. Although the Federal Register centralized the publication of rules, the regulatory process itself remained opaque, with few checks on agency authority or mechanisms for public participation. It wasn’t until 1946, with the passage of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), that the modern regulatory process was established, introducing public notice-and-comment requirements and formalizing rulemaking procedures to enhance transparency and accountability.
2024: A Monument to Bureaucracy
Fast forward to 2024, and the Federal Register closed the year at an astonishing 107,262 pages. This number reflects the sprawling reach of modern federal agencies, with rules and notices covering a dizzying array of topics.
To put this growth in perspective:
If you wanted to read the entire 2024 Federal Register nonstop, without sleeping or breaks, it would take 75 days. By contrast, the 1937 edition would take just 2.5 days—leaving you plenty of time to enjoy some celebratory celery and get much-needed rest.
A physical copy of the 2024 Federal Register would weigh more than 1,100 pounds, requiring a forklift to move it. The 1937 version? A manageable 36 pounds, light enough for a postal carrier to handle.
Stacked from end to end, the 2024 Federal Register would reach a height of nearly 36 feet, taller than a typical three-story building. The 1937 edition would barely reach 1.2 feet, about the size of a short stack of books.
This dramatic growth highlights the increasing complexity of governance and the challenge of balancing transparency with accessibility.
Reflections and Looking Ahead
The Federal Register’s growth from 3,450 pages in 1937 to 107,262 pages in 2024 is proof that when it comes to government regulations, more isn’t always better. What started as a straightforward way to document federal actions has ballooned into a mountain of paperwork that touches almost every corner of our lives. While the system has come a long way since the closed-door processes of 1937, the sheer volume of today’s rules makes it harder than ever for businesses, states, and individuals to keep up.
If we want to rein in overregulation, it’s time for freedom-minded individuals to step up. Engaging in the regulatory process and supporting the incoming administration’s deregulatory agenda is a critical step toward achieving smarter, simpler policies. We’re committed to slogging through the (virtual) pages of the Federal Register for you—making sense of the RFIs, proposed rules, and final regulations. Sure, we might take the occasional celery break, but our priority is ensuring this publication continues strong in 2025, so you can stay informed, take action, and make your voice heard.