A few weeks, I wrote a post about President Biden’s nomination of Judge J. Michelle Childs to serve on the D.C. Circuit. In that spirit, this week — given that the Court only issued a single decision* — I’ve decided that the time is right to check in on one of the Court’s newest judges: […]
In 2016, I wrote a lengthy post about Christmas in the D.C. Circuit. Well, it is almost Christmas again, so why not repost it again as I’ve done in the past? Be warned, though: Christmas is not always jolly. Consider, for instance, the case of Anderson v. White, decided by the Court of Appeals for the […]
Earlier this week, Judge Griffith (ret.) wrote a post here at Notice & Comment that began with this thought: Life on the D.C. Circuit is a mixture of the grand and the mundane. … I’m reminded of my interview with White House Counsel when President George W. Bush was thinking of nominating me to fill […]
I’m pleased to report that I’ve just posted two papers to SSRN, both co-authored with my friend and colleague Paul Stancil. The first — Gaming Certiorari — is forthcoming in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. The second — Civil Rights Litigation in the Lower Courts: The Justice Barrett Edition — is forthcoming in the […]
Today, President Biden issued an Executive Order entitled Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government. I suspect that others will provide more substantive thoughts about the order’s various parts. Here, however, is the fact sheet if you want a summary and a list of the agencies involved. There is a lot […]
Judge Douglas Ginsburg is a formidable jurist. When he speaks, we’d all do well to listen. A few weeks ago, I heard Judge Ginsburg give a presentation to lawyers. He was asked what lawyers can do to improve their advocacy. His response surprised me. Mentioning Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by name, […]
Last fall, in Collins v. Yellen, the U.S. Supreme Court invited me to brief and argue in defense of the constitutionality of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. By statute, the president can only fire the head of the FHFA “for cause.” The question in Collins was whether that provision unconstitutionally limits the president’s removal power. […]
Last year, I was asked by the Supreme Court in Collins v. Yellen to argue in defense of the constitutionality of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s structure. Collins addressed a statute that purports to only allow the president to remove the FHFA’s director “for cause.” A few months ago, the Court concluded that this provision […]
The D.C. Circuit did not decide any cases this week. But that doesn’t mean there is no news. To the contrary: What a wonderful — and sobering — sentiment. The D.C. Circuit is a serious place and when it is at its best, the judges truly have a common calling. I recall (as I’ve recounted […]
Tomorrow is the first day of the D.C. Circuit’s new term. And today is the first day of Version 2.0 of D.C. Circuit Review – Reviewed, your weekly source of information on the nation’s “second most important court.” Between 2015 and 2020, I closely tracked the D.C. Circuit’s cases.* Over time, I learned the patterns; […]
Today, President Biden fired the head of the Social Security Administration, despite the fact that Congress has declared that “[a]n individual serving in the office of Commissioner may be removed from office only pursuant to a finding by the President of neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” The Office of Legal Counsel justified this […]
As regular readers of this blog may be aware, I recently argued in the U.S. Supreme Court—and lost. In Collins v. Yellen, the Court appointed me to defend the Federal Housing Finance Agency, an independent agency whose director can only be fired “for cause.” Applying Seila Law v. CFPB, the Court concluded 7-2 — including […]
Last year, I wrote a post called “More Chevron Waiver.” My point was that although the D.C. Circuit has held that “an agency’s lawyers cannot forfeit the applicability of Chevron deference unless the underlying agency action fails to manifests its engagement in the kind of interpretive exercise to which review under Chevron generally applies,” the Supreme Court (per Justice Breyer) in County of Maui […]
As Chris notes, Dædalus — the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences — today published a special issue on the future of the administrative state. The issue’s title is The Administrative State in the Twenty-First Century: Deconstruction and/or Reconstruction. I’m grateful they asked me to participate. My essay is entitled Deconstruction (Not Destruction). Many […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided Van Buren v. United States — an important case about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. I’ll leave it to others to discuss the decision. I will address, however, a claim that I’ve seen in a number of places, viz., that Van Buren is “the first time [Justice] […]