Halloween is around the corner, and the time is ripe for a “ghoul” to “sit up in its grave and shuffl[e] abroad.” Is Chevron—lately interred by the Supreme Court—that ghoul? One can certainly sense its presence in one of the D.C. Circuit’s opinions from last week: CBOE Global Markets v. SEC. The decision (by Judge […]

Although the D.C. Circuit didn’t issue any opinions last week, it denied a motion for an emergency stay in Abramowitz v. Lake—another case testing the scope of the President’s power to remove inferior officers. The case concerns the Director of the Voice of America, which is the U.S. government’s international broadcaster. The Director reports to […]

Last week, the D.C. Circuit released an opinion deferring to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in light of Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County; an opinion deferring to the FBI in a Freedom of Information Act case; an opinion vacating a FERC order that departed from the cost-causation principle; an opinion on standing; and an […]

Last week at the D.C. Circuit was one of unanimous published opinions in four administrative law cases, which highlighted the principle that scientific determinations are due significant deference, the requirement that agencies reasonably explain the regulatory lines they draw, and the importance of addressing reliance interests when changing policy. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. v. Kennedy was […]

Last week, the D.C. Circuit’s motions docket stayed busy with another removal case, this time related to the President’s attempt to remove “for cause” Lisa Cook from her position as a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. The district court preliminarily enjoined Cook’s removal after finding that she is likely to succeed on […]

The Tucker Act has been in the news a lot lately, as a centerpiece of litigation over various Trump Administration grant terminations. The Tucker Act requires parties with contract claims against the government to bring those claims in the Court of Federal Claims. The Court of Federal Claims can award damages, but unlike a federal […]

Last week, the D.C. Circuit adopted an interesting remedy in a notice-and-comment case; dealt with an analogy between administrative proceedings and judicial disciplinary proceedings; and addressed the standards for scientific studies in an arbitrary-and-capricious case. It also issued an order staying an injunction against the removal of two members of the National Credit Union Administration. […]

Last week, the D.C. Circuit handed the Trump Administration two big victories based upon Dalton v. Specter, which two panels took to stand for a broad principle limiting judicial review. It decided eight other cases, and many of those were consequential administrative law decisions too. The Specter in Global Health Council v. Trump and NTEU […]

The D.C. Circuit issued seven opinions last week, but most of them were not administrative law cases. They addressed international arbitration (disclosure: I represented amici in support of appellees in that case); constitutional claims related to reincarceration following a mistaken release; fraud claims against federal employees; the False Claims Act; and whistleblower awards for reports […]

The D.C. Circuit prides itself on making its decisions public in a timely fashion. An internal rule helps make that happen. A judge who has failed to circulate to the panel more than two of his assigned opinions by August 15 will not be allowed to hear arguments until he has. At first glance, one […]

The D.C. Circuit has once again addressed the surprisingly vexing question of when a rule becomes a rule. National Council of Agricultural Employers v. Department of Labor involves two competing rules modifying the H-2A farmworker visa program. The Trump administration’s Department of Labor submitted a final rule to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) on January […]

Last week, perhaps in anticipation of Independence Day, the D.C. Circuit exercised its “independent judgment” in two administrative law cases that dodged interesting questions about Loper Bright. When Has Congress Delegated Interpretive Discretion to an Agency? Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo answered one question – Chevron, nevermore? – and raised another – when has Congress […]

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 […]