Over the past four years, former President Joe Biden signed a series of controversial executive orders which critics said would raise the cost of household appliances.

Yet since coming to office, President Donald Trump has wasted no time in working to reverse Biden-era rules. 

Reversal of new regulations on washing machines, gas stoves, and other devices

According to the Daily Caller, the last example of that phenomenon came last week when he unveiled new directors for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Lee Zeldin.

"I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc., and to likewise go back to the common sense standards on LIGHTBULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last Tuesday.

Among the regulations in question was a new efficiency standard which the Department of Energy (DOE) placed on gas stoves in January of last year.

REPORTER:

"We've seen them go after gas stoves...how many more home appliances will Americans eventually have to replace?" pic.twitter.com/JgjQyiPGK0

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 24, 2023

The Biden administration also promulgated additional restrictions on dishwashers and washing machines, a move which was challenged in court by the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).

Lawsuit questioned DOE's authority

"DOE has gone beyond its statutory authority in increasing the stringency of water efficiency rules of certain consumer appliances without lawful authority," the Daily Caller quoted CEI's complaint as stating.

"More precisely, DOE lacks the authority to increase the stringency of such rules for appliances other than showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals," it continued.

CEI went on to maintain that its lawsuit sought "to confine the actions of the DOE to the exercise of its lawful statutory authority."

Trump's attempt to ease the rules governing household appliances came in the wake of an earlier executive order aimed at increasing the energy which powers them.

Executive order reviews energy rules

Signed on his first day in office, the executive order demanded a review of "those agency actions that impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources."

This included particular scrutiny of rules on "oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources."

"In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens,” Trump declared.

"These high energy costs devastate American consumers by driving up the cost of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and manufacturing, while weakening our national security," the president added.