As many readers of this blog know, for at least the past decade, court watchers had observed the emergence of the major questions doctrine, but the Supreme Court did not expressly name or rely on it until West Virginia v. EPA. Much of the commentary before West Virginia had rightly focused on the doctrine’s lack […]
The University of Texas School of Law is pleased to host the eighth annual Administrative Law New Scholarship Roundtable on May 16-17, 2023. Although we recognize that pandemic conditions could change at any point, the current plan is to hold this event in person on the University of Texas-Austin campus. The Roundtable is an opportunity for […]
Last week the en banc D.C. Circuit issued a per curiam order denying rehearing in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Federal Election Commission (CREW II), 993 F.3d 880 (D.C. Cir. 2021), accompanied by a concurring opinion authored by Judge Rao (and joined by Judges Henderson, Katsas, and Walker), and a dissenting opinion […]
The 1984 case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council is both the most influential and most controversial case in administrative law. It has come under increasingly strong attacks alleging the doctrine is unconstitutional and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The Supreme Court has applied Chevron less and less in the past few terms, […]
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the major questions doctrine (MQD) is trending in administrative law scholarship with six of the top-ten most-downloaded papers in October focused on the subject. I expect even more to come, and Beau Bauman will no doubt need to update his super-helpful MQD reading list in the new year. On a personal note, it’s […]
Humane Society of the United States v. U.S. Department of Agriculture returned this week. D.C. Circuit Reviewer Hyland Hunt wrote an in-depth post on this interesting case earlier this year. As Hyland explained, the case grew out of the longstanding practice by incoming presidential administrations of halting (and, upon review, withdrawing) the outgoing administration’s rules […]
*This is the ninth and final post in a symposium on Jed Stiglitz’s “The Reasoning State.” For other posts in the series, click here. My main response to this symposium is gratitude. I thank Yale Journal on Regulation and the Notice & Comment editors, and Bridget Dooling especially, for the opportunity to discuss The Reasoning State […]
*This is the eighth post in a symposium on Jed Stiglitz’s “The Reasoning State.” For other posts in the series, click here. The Reasoning State is compelling because it manages to be both informative and enjoyable to read. The book explores why legislators delegate policy-making authority to agencies, subject to the requirement that agency officials adhere […]
Can an agency properly invoke the deliberative process privilege to shield internal deliberations over a sham memo requesting that another agency take action, knowing that the recipient agency will use the request to hide the real reason for its contemplated action? Earlier this year, the D.C. Circuit answered in the affirmative. Campaign Legal Center v. […]
The administrative state is undergoing a slow but radical transformation. Three seismic shifts are occurring in the administrative state’s set of procedures for deciding when and how to regulate. First, Biden regulators have emphasized the need to evaluate individual regulations on a wider range of criteria, including distributive effects, fairness, and quality of life. The […]
At this blog, it goes without saying that we focus on the second highest court in the land. But every now and again, news from the highest court is too D.C. Circuit-centric to pass up. Which is unsurprising, given that four Justices hail from the august halls of the D.C. Circuit. We now have a […]
In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court announced the arrival of the major questions doctrine (MQD), or the principle that agencies can’t turn old laws into new laws through expansive statutory interpretation. It is probably the most important doctrinal development in administrative law since Chevron v. NRDC. In the FAQ below, we try to […]
Within days of taking office, President Biden made a historic commitment that saw 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. The Justice40 Initiative attaches federal funding to covered programs investing in climate change, clean energy, energy efficiency, and training and workforce development, among other priorities. Since the release […]
*This is the seventh post in a symposium on Jed Stiglitz’s “The Reasoning State.” For other posts in the series, click here. Over the last month or so, it has been such a thrill to host two book symposia here at the blog—the first one on Peter Shane’s Democracy’s Chief Executive and now this one on […]
We are delighted to announce that the winner of the AALS Section on Administrative Law’s Emerging Scholar Award for 2023 is Professor Emily Bremer, for her article The Rediscovered Stages of Agency Adjudication, 99 Wash. U. L. Rev. 377 (2021). Congratulations to Professor Bremer on this accomplishment! In addition, Professor Noah Rosenblum received an Honorable Mention for his paper, The Antifascist Roots of Presidential […]