In his comprehensive work, A History of American Law, Lawrence M. Friedman identifies the roots of the modern welfare system in the poor laws of the colonies.[1] Descended from laws of Elizabethan England with the same label, colonial law established a system of “discriminating against the unfortunate stranger.”[2] New England towns would “warn out” new arrivals to disclaim […]
Yesterday Paul Ray, the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), issued guidance to all executive departments and agencies on implementing Executive Order 13,924 to improve and reform regulatory enforcement and adjudication. As I noted in February, OMB had issued a request for information […]
Tease: to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity often without intending to satisfy it Merriam-Webster Dictionary (3rd definition) The Constitution forbids Congress from delegating legislative authority to the Executive Branch, but the Court has not struck down a statute on non-delegation grounds since 1935 in Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan, and A.L.A. Schechter Poultry […]
From the Journal of Regulatory Compliance: As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, the legal community has ramped up efforts to identify challenges and manage risks across a variety of industries. In recognition of the broad regulatory compliance implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Journal of Regulatory Compliance invites original submissions for publication in […]
My posts are designed to help you keep track of the D.C. Circuit — with particular focus on administrative law — in five minutes a week. To that end, for nearly five years I’ve provided a summary of the week’s cases.* But this week I’ve really gone above and beyond the call of duty. I’ve […]
I received an email a few days ago from a student looking to clerk.* He has authorized me to post it here. Re: Mailing Clerkship Applications to Chambers During Quarantine Professor Nielson, I’ve been working on clerkship applications over the past week and just realized that judges are unlikely to be in chambers to receive […]
This will be a quick post; I’m traveling today. A couple of days ago, USA Today ran an op-ed urging President Trump to award Judge James Buckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That op-ed reminded me of a post I wrote in 2018.* Judge Buckley has lived an extraordinary life and certainly merits recognition. Notably, […]
Our blog exploded a couple of weeks ago when the president issued two new Executive Orders related to guidance. In about 24 hours we had four fine contributions, a testament to the blog’s deep bench: Breaking News: Two Major Executive Orders, Aaron Nielson The October 9 Executive Orders and Government Acquisition of Information, Bernard Bell […]
As Aaron Nielson has noted, two new Executive Orders were issued yesterday. He has described some of the major provisions. But, in addition, there are provisions in the “Executive Order on Promoting the Rule of Law Through Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication” regarding government inspections and information collection. With respect to […]
Introduction On October 16, the U.S. Supreme Court the Court will hear argument in Kansas v. Garcia, Dkt. No. 17-834. [1] The Kansas Supreme Court opinion is reported at 306 Kan. 1113, 401 P.3d 588 (2017). The case involves the preemptive effect of a portion of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Pub. […]
In June 2016, five months before the election of President Donald Trump, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote a post for the Regulatory Review on “corporate capture of the regulatory process.” It highlighted myriad opportunities in the rulemaking process “for powerful industry groups to tilt the scales in their favor.” The “notice and comment” process offered a key example: […]
I don’t know, and I doubt the Trump administration does either. But we may soon find out. With the Trump administration’s encouragement, Tennessee is moving ahead with a waiver to block grant its Medicaid program under section 1115 of the Social Security Act. “Currently,” as Stephanie Armour explains at the Wall Street Journal, “Tennessee, like […]
As I blogged about back in January, the UCLA Law Review organized a terrific live symposium entitled The Safeguards of Our Constitutional Republic. The print issue just came out. Here’s a rundown of the written contributions from the UCLA Law Review website, with links to each essay: IN PRINT: VOLUME 65, ISSUE 6 JON D. […]
That’s the title of a new perspective piece from Rachel Sachs and me in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Trump administration has refused to allow Massachusetts to experiment with a closed formulary, which would give the state some leverage in price negotiations over low-value drugs. But, as we explain, CMS has offered no written explanation whatsoever for its refusal. […]
The IRS recently changed the rules on how some tax-exempt organizations must report information related to their “substantial contributors” (that is, those who donate $5,000 or more in a year). This change has sparked a political controversy, fueled by concerns over “dark money” in politics and the Citizens United decision. One state (Montana) has already […]