As Judge Griffith covered last week, the motions panel at the D.C. Circuit has remained busy of late. It appears this month will be no exception. Last week, the D.C. Circuit administratively stayed much of the district court’s preliminary injunction in National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought, No. 25-5091, which had prevented the government from […]
Excessive deregulation creates harmful uncertainty for AI innovators. America needs a principles-based approach balancing clear guidelines with room for experimentation.
Intentionally or not, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bondi v. VanDerStok has the potential to dent the arc of administrative law. As Justice Alito observed in his dissent, the case could end up being a “huge boon for the administrative state.” Below, we explain why. At issue in VanDerStok was a 2022 rule […]
As Eloise Pasachoff, Zachary Price, and I describe in a forthcoming essay, the second Trump Administration is implementing unilateral executive control over federal spending—or “appropriations presidentialism”—with a breadth and magnitude that is unprecedented. Much of the recent public discourse around this appropriations presidentialism has focused on DOGE’s “efficiency” efforts and OMB Director Russ Vought’s assertion […]
The Trump Administration has ushered in a new regulatory landscape in the Fifth Circuit. It is relatively peaceful, as most new litigants have brought their claims in forums perceived to be more liberal than that court (which has long been dominated by Republican-appointed judges). As Damonta Morgan and I continue to bring you the latest […]
Things don’t move fast in Washington—until they do. Just hours after we published our piece explaining why EPA waivers of Clean Air Act preemption are subject to congressional review under the CRA, GAO published a memo of “observations” taking the opposite view. In addition, UC Berkeley Professors Dan Farber and Eric Biber have explained in […]
All eyes were on the D.C. Circuit this week for J.G.G. v. Trump, No. 25-5067. The case arises from President Trump’s March 15, 2025 Proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (“AEA”), ch. 66, 1 Stat. 577 (1798) (codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. §§ 21-24) to order deportation of Venezuelan nationals that the federal government alleges […]
For several months in 2022 and 2023, I wrote a series of blog posts called “The Major Questions Doctrine Reading List.” These posts came in the aftermath of several high-profile cases involving the MQD. My hope was that I could spotlight good scholarship and provide a shared language for talking about the MQD. For the […]
The D.C. Circuit did not decide a nondelegation case last week. But while I have you, and the nondelegation doctrine and fee-setting are surely on your mind, I commend to your attention a recent article Professor Erika Lietzan: User Fee Programs. It surveys fee programs across the federal government and touches on the question whether […]
Today’s Ad Law Reading Room entry is “Rethinking the Administrative-Remand Rule,” by Matthew J. Sanders, which is forthcoming in the Stanford Law Review. Here is the abstract: With a few exceptions, the federal courts of appeals have jurisdiction over—and only over—“final decisions” of the district courts. There is a little-known but highly consequential rule, known […]
FCC v. Consumers’ Research (set to be argued on March 26) presents the Supreme Court with its latest chance to revitalize the nondelegation doctrine. The case centers on the multi-billion dollar universal service fund (USF) that, by statute, the FCC funds with fees from interstate telecom carriers to pay for various subsidy programs. The en […]
On January 20, 2025, President Trump’s first act was to end birthright citizenship by executive fiat with the “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” executive order. On March 13, 2025, after four federal courts enjoined the implementation of the executive order, the Trump Administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to allow him to […]
In August 2024, federal district court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, setting the stage for what could be a watershed moment in tech regulation. The court found that Google unlawfully maintained its monopoly through exclusive distribution agreements with browser and device companies, sharing ad revenues in exchange […]
“The procedure of administrative rule making is one of the greatest inventions of modern government.” Summary Section 553(a)(2) of the Administrative Procedure Act exempts “loans, grants, benefits or contracts” from the Act’s rulemaking requirements. Many of the programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – such as Medicaid, old age, survivors, […]
How Is Trump 2.0 Reshaping the Administrative State? A webinar sponsored by the Penn Program on Regulation Weds., March 263:00-4:30 p.m. EDTVia Zoom Since assuming office in January, the Trump Administration has taken unprecedented actions involving federal agencies. He has asserted presidential power over the functioning of independent agencies, taken steps to dismantle certain agencies […]