Criticisms abound of a bloated, unaccountable, arbitrary, and abusive federal bureaucracy. But what if the way in which the critics have lambasted the administrative state is misconceived? The critics have ideas about potential antidotes: changing how the courts review administrative actions, increasing congressional capacity for oversight, terminating wasteful spending programs, and, above all else, increasing […]

There’s probably not a communications or administrative lawyer or scholar alive today who is not familiar with the decades-old “net neutrality” saga. Well, due to the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Ohio Telecom Association v. FCC on January 2, the saga, mercifully, may be coming to an end. With no need for more […]

Whether it is PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, or something else, most Americans have used one or more payment platforms. These platforms are usually “viewed as offering a relatively fast, easy, secure, and affordable way of making and receiving retail payments.”  Soon, the payment platform marketplace may grow a bit more crowded. In a blog post from January […]

With 2024 coming to a close, I’m posting the November list now and will post the December list right after the new year. Here is the November 2024 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 Bill Funk. For more on why SSRN […]

From the job posting: The Consumer Protection Branch is seeking an attorney to defend the Food & Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and other federal agencies in civil litigation throughout the country. The attorney will defend against high-profile challenges to agency actions, policies, and programs related to food, drugs, medical devices, […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently issued its decision in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, a case that has been closely watched by the press and Bitcoin advocates. As set forth below, this decision has important implications for Bitcoin. In particular, it effectively precludes the federal government from banning Bitcoin under the International Emergency […]

The scope of federal environmental reviews is at stake when the Supreme Court decides the just-argued case Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), agencies must analyze the environmental impacts of actions they fund, authorize, or carry out. Those impacts may include both direct impacts from a project as […]

Over the past several years, the conservative legal movement and corporate interests have enjoyed one administrative law victory after another. Admirers of the administrative state have watched in general dismay as regulators’ ability to protect the public health, the environment, and worker safety and organizing rights has dwindled. Despite their chagrin over these developments, progressives […]