The D.C. Circuit issued eight opinions last week, so perhaps the rush to finish up opinions over the summer has begun. Two of the perhaps more newsworthy decisions were not in traditional admin law cases, but I’ll mention them nonetheless. In N.S. v. Dixon, No. 21-5275, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that […]
Back in the day, cases involving detainees at Guantanamo Bay were argued in the D.C. Circuit regularly and frequently. Lately, not so much, but this week in al-Baluchi v. Hegseth, No. 23-5251 the D.C. Circuit was back at it again, dismissing the appeal of a detainee from a decision of the district court that denied […]
As we enter the second half of June, all eyes may be trained on the Supreme Court, but work at the D.C. Circuit continues apace. The Court issued three administrative-law decisions last week. The acronyms are mostly the usual fare—FERC, NLRB, and FOIA—but here’s one you do not see every day: MEAN. Plus, an opinion […]
During the week of June 2, the D.C. Circuit issued two administrative-law opinions and one interesting denial of a motion for an emergency stay. In Secretary of Labor v. Industrial TurnAround Corporation, the court dismissed a petition from the Secretary of Labor for lack of jurisdiction. In August 2022, three miners were injured when a […]
The D.C. Circuit issued another unusual en banc order last week in challenges to funding cuts at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. It also vacated and remanded in two cases involving immigration standards of review. And it denied petitions for review in an SEC whistleblower case and a FERC case. “Special En Banc” Before […]
The D.C. Circuit published two opinions last week. Page v. Comey addressed an already-reported on lawsuit in which Carter Page, an advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, alleged that the FBI unlawfully surveilled him and damaged his reputation by leaking information to the press. In 2022, the district court dismissed his complaint for failure to state a claim. […]
Lots of important arguments last week, including in the cases related to the removals of board members from the NLRB and the Merit Systems Protection Board and the CFPB. On the opinion side, the week was less headline-worthy, but still relevant for those interested in the interaction between administrative and judicial remedies. The opinion in […]
Who would have guessed that the most hotly contested legal issue in the federal courts in the spring of 2025 would be the propriety of an administrative stay? The D.C. Circuit was once again involved in the multitude of challenges to the multitude of President Trump’s executive orders and, once again, the issue was over […]
Readers may recognize the words in the title of this blog post as lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot’s melancholy ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. If you’re interested, it can be heard on any given school morning in my minivan, where it vies with The Devil Went Down to Georgia for “most requested song.” Story […]
The D.C. Circuit entered three administrative stays and decided three administrative law cases on the merits last week. Emergency Orders Alien Enemies Act In J.G.G. v. Trump, this month’s special panel administratively stayed the district court’s interim order on contempt. As Thomas Griffith has discussed on this blog, the district court entered a temporary restraining order prohibiting the removal […]
This post covers the two published opinions of the D.C. Circuit for the week of April 7. Ateba v. Leavitt addressed a journalist’s First Amendment challenge to the White House Hard Pass Policy. Under this Policy, “[t]he White House issues hard passes,” which afford “preferred access to the White House Press Area,” to “reporters who are accredited […]
As Judge Griffith covered last week, the motions panel at the D.C. Circuit has remained busy of late. It appears this month will be no exception. Last week, the D.C. Circuit administratively stayed much of the district court’s preliminary injunction in National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought, No. 25-5091, which had prevented the government from […]
All eyes were on the D.C. Circuit this week for J.G.G. v. Trump, No. 25-5067. The case arises from President Trump’s March 15, 2025 Proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (“AEA”), ch. 66, 1 Stat. 577 (1798) (codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. §§ 21-24) to order deportation of Venezuelan nationals that the federal government alleges […]
The D.C. Circuit did not decide a nondelegation case last week. But while I have you, and the nondelegation doctrine and fee-setting are surely on your mind, I commend to your attention a recent article Professor Erika Lietzan: User Fee Programs. It surveys fee programs across the federal government and touches on the question whether […]
The D.C. Circuit was busy last week with emergency motions. In Dellinger v. Bessent, the district court enjoined the removal of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger. The D.C. Circuit (Henderson, Millett, and Walker, JJ.) stayed the injunction pending appeal. As the panel explained, the stay gave “effect to the removal of appellee from his position as Special […]