“There’s something about black holes that draws in scientists and the rest of us terrestrial dwellers,” lawyers included. Last week, however, the D.C. Circuit concluded that the military is not a constitutional “black hole of futile claims.” The case was Talbott v. United States. (See here and here for news coverage about the case, and here for a prior D.C. Circuit order […]
The D.C. Circuit issued four opinions last week; two were in cases related to admin law. (The others were a criminal case and a Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act case). The most interesting admin law case addressed when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can find a violation based on conduct not expressly included in the […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit issued two opinions summarized below but also heard oral argument in the much-discussed dispute between AI developer Anthropic and the Defense/War Department. Let’s start with the oral argument. A panel of the D.C. Circuit comprised of Judges Henderson, Katsas, and Rao heard oral argument in Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department […]
No opinions out of the D.C. Circuit last week, on administrative law or otherwise. The Court was busy hearing arguments. One in particular caught my eye (ear?), not least because it was argued by my excellent former co-clerk, Robert Stander. Michigan v. Department of Energy concerns the authority of the Secretary of Energy to order […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit decided four cases on the merits and issued interim orders in two others. The interim orders involve the scope of an injunction against the Pentagon’s press-pass policy and the court’s jurisdiction to intervene in merger-related proceedings before the FCC. The merits cases involve the SEC’s failure to explain the denial […]
One of President Donald Trump’s first acts of his second term was to proclaim that there was an “invasion” of immigrants at the border between Mexico and the U.S. His proclamation aimed to block people from entering the U.S. and applying for asylum. Last week, the D.C. Circuit held in Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education […]
The D.C. Circuit issued 8 opinions last week, ranging from the newsworthy to the less so. On the newsworthy side, there were two developments. First, the court terminated the district court’s criminal contempt inquiry related to the government’s transfer of detainees to Salvadoran custody after the district court entered a TRO in a case challenging […]
During the week of March 23, the D.C. Circuit decided Center for Biological Diversity v. Zeldin, a case involving the intersection of the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of any pollutant into the waters of the United States without a permit. The […]
It’s spring and hope springs eternal. We are playing baseball again, Bryce Harper is emerging from a slump, the Nats are only 2 games out of first place (of course, they’ve played only 15 games), and the D.C. Circuit handed down five decisions this week in which there was only a single dissent! The partisans among […]
The D.C. Circuit published three opinions during the week of March 9, none of which broke new ground. In Clean Fuels Alliance America v. EPA, Judge Garcia wrote for a unanimous panel in holding that a challenge to EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program was moot. Its holding was “narrow” and rested on circuit precedent: Petitioners […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit decided Simmons v. Rubio, a case about the deadline to seek review of a decision of the Foreign Service Grievance Board. The plaintiff is a foreign service officer who filed a grievance about her treatment at work. The Foreign Service Act permits officers to file a complaint in district court “not […]
The D.C. Circuit didn’t issue any opinions last week, so this recap is brief. The Court did issue two orders of interest, however. The first order came in Miot v. Trump, No. 26-5050, the government’s appeal of the district court order staying the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals under 5 U.S.C. […]
In Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, et al. v. Scott Bessent, in his capacity as Secretary of the Treasury, et al., No. 25-5181, ICE asked the IRS for addresses to assist in nontax criminal investigations. Plaintiffs sought to block the IRS from providing the addresses but lost in the district court. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit issued two administrative-law opinions. In Affirmed Energy, LLC v. FERC, the court addressed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of changes to regional electricity-market rules. The case involved PJM Interconnection LLC, which manages the electrical grid in parts of thirteen states and the District of Columbia. Each year, PJM holds […]
The D.C. Circuit did not release any published opinions on administrative law last week. Its only opinion dealt with a motion to unseal applications for non-disclosure orders filed by the government under the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b). The orders related to a 2017 grand jury subpoena for records of the chief investigative counsel of the […]