The Department of Government Efficiency’s effect on executive agencies last spring was swift. DOGE teams hopped from agency to agency, terminating thousands of grants worth billions of dollars. From medical labs to art museums, grantees of all stripes sprinted to the courthouse in a bid to salvage their funding. Judges are now facing an onslaught […]
This post is part of Notice & Comment’s symposium on Peter Conti-Brown and Sean Vanatta’s Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America. For other posts in the series, click here. The administrative state is again at a cross roads. The Supreme Court seems poised to continue its march toward trying to fit all of […]
This post introduces Notice & Comment’s symposium on Peter Conti-Brown and Sean Vanatta’s Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America. For other posts in the series, click here. Bank supervision resists easy categorization. Sometimes, supervisors resemble cops on the beat, enforcing laws and pursuing violators. At other times, they are akin […]
The Trump administration’s long-running effort to cancel certain foreign aid is back on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. In Trump v. Global Health Council, the government is seeking to stay an injunction that requires it to obligate some $10.5 billion in aid money before the money expires at the end of the fiscal year on […]
Should a court dismiss a lawsuit challenging a federal agency’s action because a tribal authority is a Rule 19 “required party,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a), not subject to mandatory joinder due to tribal sovereign immunity? This question is raised in a currently pending certiorari petition. Maverick Gaming LLC v. United States, Dkt. No. 24-1161 […]
The Tucker Act has been in the news a lot lately, as a centerpiece of litigation over various Trump Administration grant terminations. The Tucker Act requires parties with contract claims against the government to bring those claims in the Court of Federal Claims. The Court of Federal Claims can award damages, but unlike a federal […]
There’s a saying among Fifth Circuit clerks, practitioners, and court-watchers: “Hated, adored, never ignored.” But when it comes to administrative law, that last part hasn’t really been true lately. In recent months, the flow of administrative and regulatory opinions from the Fifth has slowed to a crawl. The reason is pretty simple: politics. During the […]
I’m very excited that we’ll be hosting this scholarship roundtable at Michigan Law next semester. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions. Here are the details on the call for papers: The University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative (SDRI) is pleased to announce a Roundtable on State […]
Last Friday, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, which concerns whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) empowers the President to impose emergency tariffs. In a 7-4 opinion, the Federal Circuit ruled that IEEPA did not authorize the challenged tariffs. Given how oral argument had gone, that ruling was […]
Today’s Ad Law Reading Room entry is “Rubber Stamps,” by Adam M. Samaha. Here is the abstract: Rubber-stamping is more often alleged than understood. The basic idea involves someone with formal authority following the views of another actor without serious second thought. Such arrangements are broadly disreputable yet terrifically common in government, and they lack […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit adopted an interesting remedy in a notice-and-comment case; dealt with an analogy between administrative proceedings and judicial disciplinary proceedings; and addressed the standards for scientific studies in an arbitrary-and-capricious case. It also issued an order staying an injunction against the removal of two members of the National Credit Union Administration. […]
After years of turmoil, Congress has passed the first major piece of federal crypto regulation. The “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act” (the GENIUS Act) provides a comprehensive regulatory framework for the stablecoin business. A cause to celebrate? Some will certainly think so (participants of the party co-hosted by Coinbase and Circle […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit handed the Trump Administration two big victories based upon Dalton v. Specter, which two panels took to stand for a broad principle limiting judicial review. It decided eight other cases, and many of those were consequential administrative law decisions too. The Specter in Global Health Council v. Trump and NTEU […]
Here is the list of works included in the August 2025 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 […]
From Timothy Lytton: The AALS Administrative Law Section invites nominations for the 2026 Emerging Scholar Award for scholarship published between September 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025. Fulltime faculty members without tenure at the time of the work’s publication (including individuals with fellowships, visiting assistant professorships, or similar positions) are eligible. Nominations should be directed […]