Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Makes America’s Showers Great Again

Fact Sheets

TLDR

This is a “fact” sheet for an executive order that rescinds Obama/Biden-era regulations that defined “showerhead” to prevent multi-nozzle systems from exceeding the 2.5-gallons-per-minute standard established in 1992. The administration frames this as eliminating overregulation and increasing consumer choice, though critics note it may increase water and energy consumption while misrepresenting the original regulations’ purpose and impact.

This is a “fact” sheet for an executive order rescinding federal regulations that defined “showerhead” under the Obama and Biden administrations. The order returns to the original 1992 energy law standard of 2.5-gallons-per-minute for showers without the additional restrictions on multi-nozzle showerheads. The administration frames this as eliminating unnecessary regulation and increasing consumer choice.

The executive order and fact sheet claims present showerhead regulations as part of a “war on water pressure” by previous administrations. However, this characterization significantly misrepresents the situation in several ways:

The regulations in question were refinements to implement the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1992, which established the 2.5 gallons-per-minute standard for showerheads. This standard was originally signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, not created by the Obama administration.

The Obama-era rule clarification addressed a loophole where manufacturers were creating multi-nozzle showerheads that collectively used more than the 2.5 gallons-per-minute standard while technically complying with the letter of the law. This wasn’t creating a “new” standard but enforcing the existing one as intended.

The fact sheet claims these regulations “made showerheads weak and worthless” and that Americans had water “barely coming out,” but provides no evidence of widespread consumer problems. Modern showerhead designs have significantly improved water efficiency without sacrificing performance.

Water conservation measures have important environmental and infrastructure benefits. Many regions face water scarcity issues, and reducing unnecessary water consumption helps conserve this resource. Additionally, water and wastewater treatment facilities face reduced strain when consumption is more efficient.

The claim of “13,000 words” to define a showerhead is misleading. Federal regulations include extensive technical specifications, legal requirements, compliance testing procedures, and responses to public comments — all of which contribute to the document’s length. This doesn’t mean the definition itself is overly complex.

The fact sheet frames this as purely regulatory overreach with “no market failure,” but ignores the externalities associated with water consumption that aren’t captured in consumer water bills, including environmental impacts and infrastructure costs.

While presented as “restoring shower freedom,” this order may actually lead to increased costs for consumers and municipalities through higher water and energy bills (as more energy is required to heat additional water), and could exacerbate water scarcity issues in drought-prone areas.

UNDOING THE LEFT’S WAR ON WATER PRESSURE: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure and make America’s showers great again.

  • The Order directs the Secretary of Energy to immediately rescind the overly complicated federal rule that redefined “showerhead” under Obama and Biden.
  • Twice in the last 12 years, those administrations put out massive regulations defining the word “showerhead.” The Biden definition was a staggering 13,000 words. The Oxford English Dictionary, by contrast, defines “showerhead” in one short sentence.
  • President Trump is restoring sanity to at least one small part of the federal regulations, returning to the straightforward meaning of “showerhead” from the 1992 energy law, which sets a simple 2.5-gallons-per-minute standard for showers.
  • The Order frees Americans from excessive regulations that turned a basic household item into a bureaucratic nightmare. No longer will showerheads be weak and worthless.

ROLLING BACK OVERREGULATION: Overregulation chokes the American economy, entrenches bureaucrats, and stifles personal freedom.

  • Under Obama and Biden, the government issued lengthy rules—thousands of words long—redefining “showerhead” as a “nozzle” and making multi-nozzle showers illegal if they collectively discharged over 2.5 gallons of water per minute.

    • These changes served a radical green agenda that made life worse for everyday Americans.

    • President Trump sought to undo this definition in his first term by publishing extensive analysis and a formal rule—however, Biden undid this progress and the shower wars continued.

    • The government should not waste taxpayer time and money writing another elaborate definition for a term that has a simple definition.

    • No market failure justifies this intrusion: Americans pay for their own water and should be free to choose their showerheads without federal meddling.

  • It’s not just showers—the Biden Administration aggressively targeted everyday appliances like gas stoves, water heaters, washing machines, furnaces, dishwashers, and more, waging war on the reliable tools Americans depend on daily.

    • These appliances worked perfectly fine before Biden’s meddling piled on convoluted regulations that made those appliances worse.

    • President Trump is slashing red tape and ending Biden’s dumb war on things that work.

DELIVERING ON PROMISES: By restoring shower freedom, President Trump is following through on his commitment to dismantle unnecessary regulations and put Americans first.

  • President Trump: “We’re going to get rid of those restrictions. You have many places where they have water, they have so much water they don’t know what to do with it. But people buy a house, they turn on the sink, and water barely comes out. They take a shower, water barely comes out. And it’s an unnecessary restriction.”

  • This Executive Order builds on actions President Trump has already taken to roll back overregulation and empower Americans, including:

    • Cutting red tape across federal agencies to unleash economic growth.

    • Repealing burdensome Biden-era executive actions that stifled freedom.

    • Fighting against radical green agendas that prioritize ideology over people.