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 […]
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 […]