Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney Mick MulvaneyMick Mulvaney to start hedge fund Fauci says positive White House task force reports don't always match what he hears on the ground Bottom line MORE recently told top Trump administration officials during a meeting that their "highest priority" would be deregulation in the coming year, Axios reported Sunday.

A senior official told Axios that when Mulvaney sits down with the president to evaluate the job performances of the Cabinet secretaries, deregulation will be one of the main criteria on their list.

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"We knew there was one thing we could do without legislation," the official told the news outlet.

A White House spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that deregulation is a top priority of the administration while responding to a request for comment on the Axios story.



“President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE has made it a priority to eliminate harmful and unnecessary regulations to unleash the American economy since he took office,” the official said.

President Trump lent significant focus to rolling back regulations, especially environmental ones, since being elected.

Deregulation through top agencies allows the president to circumvent Congress for the most part, avoiding large political battles.

Trump has used this to roll back Obama-era restrictions on air pollution, coal plants and toxic chemicals used in farming.

Environmentalists and Democrats have been critical of these Trump administrations changes to Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department policy.

-- Updated at 11:55 a.m.