It was a busy week in the D.C. Circuit.* The Court decided 10 cases — some of which are quite substantial. Because there are so many opinions this week, I’ll set aside the cases (Bernier v. Allen and United Mine Workers v. Energy West Mining Co.) that don’t involve administrative law. I’ll also ignore In […]
Last week brought three new opinions from the D.C. Circuit and one revised opinion. Two of the new opinions deal with administrative law, so let’s start there: First up is Crowley Government Services, Inc. v. GSA, which involves one of the first things I learned about as a baby lawyer at the Federal Programs Branch […]
The American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (the Section) is pleased to invite applications for its ABA Administrative Law Fellowship. The fellowship, established in 2021, aims to diversify the cohort of legal academics in administrative law and regulatory practice by positioning lawyers currently in practice to be successful job candidates in […]
Quickly, which of the following two actions most burdens the practice of religion: (a) Preventing a football coach from praying at the 50-yard line after a game? (b) Allowing a copper mine to take over one of the most sacred sites of a religion? The intuitive answer is surely the latter. But the actual answer […]
At long last (for those of us who watch for these decisions), the Supreme Court has issued its decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, a case challenging the EPA’s Clean Power Plan regulations under the Clean Air Act. Scholars and others anticipated the decision as a potential vehicle for reinvigorating the nondelegation doctrine. […]
In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court held that the emission limits adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Clean Power Plan exceeded the agency’s authority, because the Clean Air Act did not clearly authorize the agency to “restructure the American energy market.” Ordinarily, courts would review the interpretive issue under the […]
The American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (the Section) is pleased to invite applications for its ABA Administrative Law Fellowship. The fellowship, established in 2021, aims to diversify the cohort of legal academics in administrative law and regulatory practice by positioning lawyers currently in practice to be successful job candidates in […]
Last week, a sequel led the box office at 333 Constitution Ave., NW. With a script by Judge Millett, it featured the FCC, a star of administrative law opinions at the D.C. Circuit. While Northstar Wireless, LLC v. FCC did not break new ground, those looking for the comfort of the familiar will find something […]
The National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) published a rule requiring owner and operators of for-hire vessel operating in the Gulf of Mexico to (1) install GPS devices that constantly archived the vessel’s locations, and (2) allow federal fisheries enforcement personnel access to the information. A group of charter boat captains and owners challenged the regulation, […]
On July 21, 2020, the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) published a rule requiring owners and operators of for-hire vessel operating in the Gulf of Mexico to submit electronic fishing reports upon their return to port “prior to removing any fish from the vessel” (or within 30 minutes if no fish had been retained). Even […]
Although Tax Day passed on April 18, 2022, for some taxpayers a different type of tax deadline is approaching. Many tax attorneys, like myself, know that June 30, 2022, is the last day on which certain taxpayers who had capital gains in 2021 can defer paying tax on those gains until 2026 by investing them […]
The ABA Administrative Law Section is now soliciting submissions for the 2022 Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award. The Section welcomes submissions discussing any topic in administrative law. All entries must be emailed by 7:00 pm ET on June 30, 2022. Entrants must submit two files to Section Director Anne Kiefer via email to anne.kiefer@americanbar.org. The […]
The Fifth Circuit’s [WG1] recent decision in Jarkesy v. SEC has breathed new life into the debate over the propriety of double for-cause tenure. And whereas there is no shortage of thoughtful commentary about the constitutional validity of tenure protections—including from contributors on this blog—far less has been said about an equally important step of the […]
Sharing this job announcement (below). I’m always happy to post job openings in administrative law here on the blog, so please don’t hesitate to reach out. The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently seeking applications for General Attorney positions in its Centers for […]
In Inter-Cooperative Exchange v. Department of Commerce, — F.4th —, 2022 WL 2036299 (June 7, 2022), a Ninth-Circuit panel split over the proper approach to searching a government employee’s personal cell phone for records responsive to a FOIA request. As the majority irreverently described the suit: “In this case, crab fishers pull their nets from […]