In the first oral arguments of the October 2026 term, the Supreme Court Justices grappled with one of the most significant climate cases to reach the Court in recent years. Justice Kavanaugh’s questions indicated that he believes tort claims over climate harms can only be brought under federal common law. But although he is correct […]
The AALS Section on Administrative Law invites presenters and commentators to join the New Voices in Administrative Law session at the upcoming AALS conference. New Voicesoffers junior scholars an opportunity to get constructive feedback on a paper draft from more senior scholars. The session, which is open to interested observers as well as presenters and commentators, isscheduled for Friday, Jan. […]
Recent Rulemakings Reviewed is a monthly quantitative snapshot of federal regulatory activity, drawn from FRTracker—a platform that ingests Federal Register documents and decomposes binding rules into structured “obligations.” An “obligation” in this dataset is a single regulated duty extracted from a rule’s text, comprised of: an actor (e.g., operator, employer, importer), a deontic modal (must, shall, may not), and an action. Each issue of Recent […]
The Eleventh Circuit decided three administrative law cases of note in September. First, the court held that the structure of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council violated the Appointments Clause, but the plaintiffs were not entitled to vacatur of the challenged rule. Second, the court denied a stay of non-monetary sanctions imposed on President […]
Here is the list of works included in the September 2026 Comparative Administrative Law Scholarship Corner, which is curated by Eduardo Jordão (FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro), with the assistance of Eduarda Onzi. The Scholarship Corner is a resource provided through the Comparative Administrative Law listserv. For more information about this terrific resource, check out my first […]
In August 2024, the FDA rejected Lykos Therapeutics’s New Drug Application for MDMA-assisted therapy to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The decision surprised many as just seven years earlier, the agency had granted MDMA breakthrough therapy designation to treat PTSD based on positive preliminary reports. The rejection sparked strong criticism from psychedelics and mental health […]
With one exception—a unanimous criminal decision—the D.C. Circuit’s opinions last week all drew dissents. Perhaps the most high-profile case was Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Dep’t of War, No. 26-1049. As an indicator of broad interest, the listing of amicus briefs is about three pages long. Judge Katsas, joined by Judge Rao, rejected Anthropic’s claims that […]
On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 9:00 am ET, I will be moderating a program at the American Enterprise Institute titled “The Economy and Regulatory Reform: Can Congress Help?” The program is available both in-person and online. The link is here.
Over the past three decades, advocates have convinced a growing number of states to authorize the medical use of drugs that lack Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. To date, forty-one states have legalized the medical use of marijuana, and at least three states have legalized therapeutic use of psilocybin. The passage of these state […]
Over the past quarter century, we have witnessed a resurgence in medical, scientific, and societal interest in a broad family of psychoactive compounds that itself somewhat defies very clear pharmacological classification. Yet, these compounds have captured our attention given their unique and somewhat peculiar effects on the mind, and their growing potential as novel and […]
Religious use of psychedelics is largely thought to be bookended by two Supreme Court decisions. The first, Employment Division v. Smith (1990), rejected a constitutional exemption for Native American peyote use and held that the Free Exercise Clause does not require exemptions from neutral and generally applicable laws. Congress responded with the Religious Freedom Restoration […]
A key congressional officer, the Comptroller General monitors government spending, rules on its legality, and polices impoundments, among other things. President Trump, however, clashed repeatedly with the last Comptroller General, and the position has been vacant since December, filled on an acting basis by a senior staff member. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s “appropriations presidentialism”—its push […]
Courts, for some reason, have been addressing ultra vires challenges to agency action far more frequently in the last few years. On September 17, I ran a Westlaw search in the “All federal” database for “APA and ‘ultra vires’” that picked up 1082 opinions. Seven hundred and sixty-nine of these opinions were issued after 2020; […]
The week of Constitution Day is circled on the calendars of state and federal judges because we are often called on by schools and civic groups to speak at events to tout the virtues of the Constitution. Last week, an unusual Constitution Day celebration was held at the Washington National Cathedral. Dallin Oaks, leader of […]
When the Supreme Court hears arguments October 5th in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder, the oil companies will argue that municipalities cannot pursue state-law claims for damages caused by the marketing of fossil fuels. Boulder seeks to prove that it has suffered damages from the defendant companies’ contribution to extreme heat, storms, wildfires, […]