The small victory for showerheads this week, President Donald Trump’s executive order “undoing the left’s war on water pressure,” was a big victory for personal freedom.
Trump’s order rescinds the “overly complicated federal rule” that redefined the word “showerhead” and restricted the water flow of certain appliances under Obama and Biden. As the White House noted, this change was a part of the former presidents’ “radical green agenda” that “made life worse for everyday Americans.” This restriction on showerheads was first enacted by the Obama administration in 2013. Trump worked to lift the regulations during his first term, but Biden reversed these efforts.
Under Obama and Biden, manufacturers were forced to make wimpy, low-flow showerheads that left consumers disappointed. The overreaching policy was supposed to conserve water, but as anyone who has lathered up under a weak trickle can attest, taking twice as long to rinse off does not save water.
“I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair,” Trump quipped while signing the order. “I have to stand under the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. It comes out, drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous.”
It’s also ridiculous this rule ever existed. “No market failure justifies this intrusion: Americans pay for their own water and should be free to choose their showerheads without federal meddling,” a White House explanation of the order said.
Citizens are practically helpless against government regulations like this. Without Trump’s intervention, Americans would be stuck with low-quality showers and likely countless other regulations pushed by the Biden administration.
Regulations often creep into our lives through the quiet lobbying of special interest groups. They seek administrative changes, circumventing congressional review. As part of the regulation process, a government agency proposes a rule, which is then opened up to public comment. But, very often, public comments are dominated by special interest groups with little input from normal Americans and are not a fair assessment of public opinion.
For example, in July of 2021, a sub-agency of Biden’s Department of Energy proposed a rule to reinstate the Obama-era definition of “showerhead.” The proposed rule was open to public comment until September 2021.
Of the 331.9 million people in the United States in 2021, records show only 20 documented comments. This total includes several letters from various interest groups, like Plumbing Manufacturers International, expressing support for the rule.
A few of the comments were from individuals expressing disagreement with the Energy Department’s proposed change, but the broader showering public was likely oblivious to the pending regulation. That is how regulators like it. They don’t truly want to hear from us.
But Trump is speaking on behalf of consumers.
Overregulation goes way beyond showerheads. As the White House explained this week, it “chokes the American economy, entrenches bureaucrats, and stifles personal freedom.” Gas stove and water heater bans, washing machines and dishwashers that won’t get the job done, furnace mandates, low-flow toilets that barely flush — a long list of intrusions lower quality of life and quietly make government bigger.
As Trump works to kill harmful regulations, Congress should codify common sense into law to prevent them from popping up again. The process must be reformed to prevent bureaucrats from making dumb rules with no real public participation.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
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