Notice & Comment

Notice & Comment

Notice & Comment

How to Keep the Subsidies Flowing in a Handful of States

I’ve been toying with an idea that might allow the Obama administration, in the event that it loses in King v. Burwell, to keep subsidies flowing to residents in some of the 34 states that declined to create an exchange. What if HHS declared that any state that performs substantial, ongoing, and essential exchange functions […]

Notice & Comment

A Potentially Lurking Issue in a Recent Cert. Grant

On May 4, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in FERC v. Electric Power Supply Association (and a companion case). The case raises the question whether FERC exceeded its authority in issuing a regulation that gives retail energy customers incentives to reduce electricity consumption. The Federal Power Act (“FPA”) grants FERC the power to regulate the […]

Notice & Comment

Will the Government Get Chevron Deference in King v. Burwell?, by Connor Raso

The Government is likely to prevail in King v. Burwell if its interpretation of the Affordable Care Act receives Chevron deference. This raises an important question: what influences when Supreme Court justices grant Chevron deference to agencies? Prof. Bill Eskridge and I examined this question in a paper that examined all Supreme Court cases from […]

Notice & Comment

The IRS’s Mercenaries

Microsoft Corp. has recently challenged the enforcement of IRS summons regarding some of its international tax planning, arguing that the IRS has flouted the law by allowing Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to participate in an audit of the company. The dispute raises many fundamental questions that a district court has been asked to answer. […]

Notice & Comment

Every Regulatory Attorney Always Has Standing to Challenge the Constitutional Design of Her Regulator

So would hold Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in a case challenging the constitutionality of the institutional design of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Judge Kavanaugh has written some of the most provocative concurring and dissenting opinions about the constitutional limits and permissions of institutional design, including […]

Notice & Comment

The Incompatibility Clause and a Recent Rulemaking

Yesterday saw a fight over the Department of Defense’s proposed rule that would protect military families from predatory lending. The proposed regulation seeks to implement the Military Lending Act, which caps interest rates on loans to service members, by closing loopholes that have allow finance companies to continue offering high-interest loans to enlisted personnel. A […]

Notice & Comment

A Chance to Clarify Standing

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins to resolve a basic question of Article III standing: Does a person has standing to sue to seek redress for the violation of a right, even if he did not suffer any other injury from the rights violation? This is the second time […]

Notice & Comment

The Senate’s Proposed King Fix is Flawed

If the government loses in King v. Burwell, Congress will come under intense pressure to restore insurance subsidies in the 34 states that refused to set up their own exchanges. Anticipating the tricky post-King politics, Senate Republicans appear to have coalesced around a bill crafted by Senator Johnson that would extend subsidies through 2017 to […]

Notice & Comment

A Chance to Clarify Standing, by Andy Hessick

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins to resolve a basic question of Article III standing: Does a person has standing to sue to seek redress for the violation of a right, even if he did not suffer any other injury from the rights violation? This is the second time […]