Last month, Jeffrey Clark, the Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, issued yet another memorandum (M-25-36) describing how the Trump Administration intends to “streamlin[e] the review of deregulatory actions.” If you’re experiencing déjà vu, you’re not alone: M-25-36 follows at least two executive orders, an April presidential memorandum, and two other […]
The D.C. Circuit released no opinions last week. That, and Thanksgiving, might otherwise provide an occasion for a light-hearted post about D.C. Circuit cases involving Turkey pardons and cranberry confiscations (both exist!). But Thanksgiving was a more somber day in Washington, D.C., this year, as it saw the death of one of the two Guardsmen […]
This piece argues that Congress may invalidate new AI regulation through a moratorium or preemption without running afoul of the anticommandeering doctrine. As AI systems grow in capability, importance, and risk, states are increasingly seeking to regulate them. Illinois bans AI use in therapy. California requires large AI developers to disclose their safety policies. Several […]
Here is the October 2025 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 and this eJournal are such terrific resources for administrative law scholars and practitioners, check out my first post on the subject here. You can […]
Here is the list of works included in the November 2025 Comparative Administrative Law Scholarship Corner, which is curated by Eduardo Jordão (FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro), with the assistance of Eduarda Onzi. The Scholarship Corner is a resource provided through the Comparative Administrative Law listserv. For more information about this terrific resource, check out my first […]
As we approach Thanksgiving travels, I wanted to share a new monthly podcast that might be of interest to readers of this blog. The podcast is titled “The Separation of Powers,” and it is produced by the Separation of Powers Institute at the Catholic University of America. I host the podcast, and each episode typically […]
As part of my prep for this year’s ABA Administrative Law Conference, I put together a list of the regulatory policy documents that have been issued since the start of President Trump’s second term. Looking over these documents, a few themes emerge. First, the assertion of executive power. You can see this in assertions that […]
Justice Scalia famously described the Lemon test as a “ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried . . .” For many, this aptly describes the nondelegation doctrine—a ghoul that haunts the administrative state. Almost a century has passed since the Supreme Court invoked […]
In an essay published earlier this fall, Professor Caleb Nelson argues that, as a matter of originalism, the President does not have a constitutional power to remove executive officers. Professor Nelson is a renowned scholar, whose arguments could well influence the Supreme Court in two upcoming removal cases: Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook. […]
November 18, 2025, Update: AALS New Voices in Administrative Law seeks more senior commentators! We’ve received a bumper crop of submissions from junior scholars and need more senior commentators. The New Voices program is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6, 2026, from 4:10 to 5:25 p.m. at the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans. If you’re able to join […]
The D.C. Circuit decided one merits case involving the Essential Air Service program, stayed an interim final rule governing commercial driver’s licenses, and denied en banc rehearing of the mandamus order in the Alien Enemies Act case. Essential Air Service First, in Southern Airways Express, LLC v. U.S. Department of Transportation, the court unanimously denied a […]
The ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice is excited to announce that Professor Cass Sunstein will be keynoting the annual ABA Administrative Law Conference, this Friday, November 21st. His remarks will focus on the grand narrative in administrative law: For many decades, administrative law has been clouded, or perhaps haunted, by a Grand […]
Each year the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice hosts a signature conference on administrative law. Since we switched the annual conference online during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had more than 1,000 attendees at our annual conference. The vast majority of our attendees have been government attorneys. The protracted government shutdown has […]
The Supreme Court’s 1935 landmark decision, Humphrey’s Executor, is on the chopping block. In Trump v. Slaughter, scheduled for argument next month, the Court will consider whether President Trump lawfully removed Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission. It has directed the parties to brief and argue “whether the statutory removal protections for members of […]
There are probably other candidates, but the Supreme Court’s virtually unexplained order of November 6 in Trump v. Orr, allowing the Trump Administration to implement its decision to require trans citizens seeking new or renewed passports to use their gender at birth, instead of their current gender, seems to win the award as the most […]