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 […]
You are cordially invinted to join the Section for the Spring Member Mix & Mingle Event at the 11th Annual Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice Institute on Thursday, April 30, 2015 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 2nd Floor, Room 202AB in the buliding closest to Mt. Vernon Square […]
Now that the FCC’s Open Internet/Title II Reclassification Order has finally arrived (along with the inevitable lawsuits), I thought I would do a brief addendum to my prior post on the various legal challenges confronting the FCC’s plan. (For Gus Hurwitz’s response to that post, and my reply, see here and here.) One thing my prior […]
In a prior post, I discussed how I thought the use of the phrase “IRS Code,” as opposed to “Internal Revenue Code,” reflected some sloppiness on the part of the speaker, but that the phrasing was not inherently misleading. Here, I want to discuss whether another phrase that triples the blood pressure of the typical […]
The Obama administration’s deferred action program for eligible undocumented immigrants has thrust an obscure issue into the spotlight: when must federal agencies allow the public to comment on their policy initiatives? In February, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the program largely on the grounds that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision […]
In a surprising ruling, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit ruled last week in Graham v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company that strict liability claims and negligence claims in the long running Engle-progeny litigation are preempted by federal law. The decision, written by Judge Tjoflat, applied a broad reading of the implied preemption doctrine, concluding that […]
Recently, Senator Ted Cruz made headlines with his claim that the “IRS Code” contains more words than the Bible, with “not a one of them as good.” The Washington Post fact-checked that claim but in doing so, opened up another hornet’s nest. Academics across the country wrote in to take issue with the WaPo’s parroting […]
If the Supreme Court rules for the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell, the thirty-four states without their own exchanges will come under immense pressure to create them. But there’s a catch, one that so far has gone unmentioned in the debate over King. Could residents of the states with new state-based exchanges even qualify for […]
The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is looking for a researcher/consultant for an exciting new project entitled The Ombudsman in Federal Agencies . If I weren’t already working on ACUS’s project on federal agencies in the legislative process , I’d definitely be interested in consulting on this project. These offices can play a critical […]
The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) seeks comment on its proposed rule to modify its regulations so that, in addition to submitting the required evidence, Social Security number (“SSN”) applicants may complete a “prescribed application,” instead of a paper Form SS-5, “Application for a Social Security Card”). The suggested changes are intended to make applying for […]
There was a time when the Fed Chair’s semi-annual testimony before the House or Senate was something of a love fest. Chairman Greenspan would be celebrated by members on the left and right, each side eager to latch onto the growing perception that Greenspan—and the Fed—was the best thing going in U.S. economic policy. Judging […]
Here is the March 2015 edition of the most-downloaded recent papers (those announced in the last 60 days) from SSRN’s U.S. Administrative Law eJournal, which is edited by William Funk. For more on why SSRN and this eJournal are such terrific resources for administrative law scholars and practitioners, check out my first post on the subject here. […]
With Republicans in control of both Houses of Congress, one should expect more legislative efforts to reign in the modern administrative state. And, indeed, about three-dozen such reform proposals have been introduced in Congress since the first of the year. It is a daunting task to try to keep track of all of these proposals, […]
In my prior posts, I have discussed two Treasury/IRS regulations that contradict the language of Section 36B. The first regulation rewrites Section 36(c)(1)(B) and extends the ACA tax credit, in a roundabout way, to unlawful aliens. However, as I previously noted, it’s doubtful that the employers of the unlawful aliens would face any adverse consequences […]
In a prior post, I wrote about Treasury/IRS regulations that contradict Section 36B and extend the ACA premium tax credit to some low-income unlawful aliens. In this post, I want to discuss another regulation that contradicts the statute. Although Section 36B provides tax credits only if your household income falls within a certain range (100 […]