The D.C. Circuit has once again addressed the surprisingly vexing question of when a rule becomes a rule. National Council of Agricultural Employers v. Department of Labor involves two competing rules modifying the H-2A farmworker visa program. The Trump administration’s Department of Labor submitted a final rule to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) on January […]
The D.C. Circuit issued another unusual en banc order last week in challenges to funding cuts at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. It also vacated and remanded in two cases involving immigration standards of review. And it denied petitions for review in an SEC whistleblower case and a FERC case. “Special En Banc” Before […]
The D.C. Circuit entered three administrative stays and decided three administrative law cases on the merits last week. Emergency Orders Alien Enemies Act In J.G.G. v. Trump, this month’s special panel administratively stayed the district court’s interim order on contempt. As Thomas Griffith has discussed on this blog, the district court entered a temporary restraining order prohibiting the removal […]
The D.C. Circuit was busy last week with emergency motions. In Dellinger v. Bessent, the district court enjoined the removal of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger. The D.C. Circuit (Henderson, Millett, and Walker, JJ.) stayed the injunction pending appeal. As the panel explained, the stay gave “effect to the removal of appellee from his position as Special […]
The D.C. Circuit decided four administrative law cases last week. This post focuses on Cigar Association of America v. FDA. The district court (Mehta, J.) vacated an FDA regulation on the ground that it arbitrarily and capriciously applied to “premium cigars.” In an opinion by Judge Randolph, the D.C. Circuit agreed on the merits. But it […]
“No delay” was the theme last week at the D.C. Circuit. In one case, the court denied a temporary injunction against the TikTok ban-or-sale requirement going into effect. In another case, the court denied a petition for review on the ground that the agency would have reached the same result on remand even without the […]
The D.C. Circuit released two opinions this week, and I’ll be covering the one that isn’t about the Second Amendment. In Lee v. Garland, the FBI terminated the plaintiff’s security clearance and fired him. The plaintiff alleged violations of the First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and Title VII. The court (per Katsas, J.) unanimously held that the […]
The late summer burst of opinions appears to have ended, as the D.C. Circuit released no published opinions last week. But the court did hear oral argument in a noteworthy emergency administrative law appeal, KalshiEx LLC v. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Kalshi seeks to offer what it calls Congressional Control Contracts. Buyers who correctly predict […]
As August rolls on, the D.C. Circuit released five published opinions in administrative law cases last week. One vacated a do-over by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, two addressed standing, one addressed mootness, and one applied the Freedom of Information Act. FERC In City of Port Isabel v. FERC, the court vacated FERC’s reauthorization of two […]
While some other things were happening last week in administrative law, the D.C. Circuit decided four cases of note. The first one involved a (Chevron-free) disagreement over the meaning of the Mining Law of 1872. In Earthworks v. Department of the Interior, a divided panel affirmed the entry of summary judgment for the Interior Department in a […]
The D.C. Circuit released six published opinions last week, including the latest challenge to EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and an appeal involving the scope of the consultant corollary to FOIA Exemption 5. First, in Sinclair Wyoming Refining Co. v. EPA, the court denied several petitions for review of EPA’s RFS rulemaking for 2020, 2021, […]