Washington (CNN) White House counsel Don McGahn offered his take Thursday on the Trump administration's efforts to slash regulations, from court appointments to repealing rules.

McGahn, in rare public remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, said "it's part of a larger plan" that President Donald Trump appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, talking up Gorsuch's record criticizing deference to the authority of government agencies and the legacy Trump is working to establish in the nation's courts.

McGahn plays a leading role in recommending judicial nominees to the President, and he said part of their interview process for prospective candidates involves getting a sense of their "views on administrative law."

Asked about an order from Trump to cut two regulations for every new one, McGahn talked up the administration's efforts and claimed the real ratio was apparently "22 to one." Politifact said earlier this month that the 22-1 claim was "mostly false" and that the administration was not making an apples-to-apples comparison on rules imposed versus those repealed.

McGahn also touted the GOP's use of the Congressional Review Act to rescind several Obama-era regulations, including one aimed at preventing coal mining waste from entering waterways and another intended to make it easier to sue banks and credit card companies.

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