I’ve got a piece at Vox discussing what happens next with House v. Price, the Obamacare litigation over whether Congress has appropriated the money to make cost-sharing payments. To bring you quickly up to speed: a district court in Washington, D.C., concluded last year that the Obama administration was breaking the law in making the […]

Judge Gorsuch does not need me to defend him.* His opinions are well written and speak for themselves. (It is not by accident that the American Bar Association deemed him “well qualified” for the Supreme Court!) But this blog has recently published three posts charging Gorsuch with not “car[ing] about precedent”; exhibiting “remarkable carelessness about […]

This is part three of a three-part series on Judge Gorsuch. Last summer when I was taking the New York bar, I ran into an acquaintance who was an incoming clerk for one of President Trump’s Supreme Court short-listers. At some point she asked me what a judge I knew was “like,” and I replied that […]

I’ve reached the happy milestone of republishing my book, The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve, in paperback. This means a new preface, copied below. It’s long, but because I spend a lot of time in it discussing some of the themes and ideas that first found their home in these digital pages, I thought I […]

Sanctuary cities protect undocumented aliens by adopting policies regarding: (1) inquiries into immigration status, (2) immigration-related detentions, or (3) information-sharing with federal officials. On January 25, President Trump issued Executive Order 13768, which threatens to withhold federal funds from jurisdictions that violate 8 U.S.C. §1373.[1] Section 1373, part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility […]

This post was co-authored with Rachel Sachs, a law professor at Washington University School of Law. It has been cross-posted at Take Care, a new blog concerned with President Trump’s constitutional duty to take care to faithfully execute the law. In his speech after withdrawing the Republican health care bill from consideration on Friday, Speaker of […]

This is part two of a three-part series on Judge Gorsuch. Does Judge Gorsuch care about precedent? The question might seem like asking if Judge Gorsuch cares about stray kittens – of course he cares about precedent. After reading his administrative-law opinions, though, one can wonder. Padilla-Caldera II In Padilla-Caldera v. Gonzales (“Padilla-Caldera I”), the Tenth […]

This is part one of a three-part series on Judge Gorsuch. In the confirmation questionnaire Judge Gorsuch submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he listed Gutierrez-Brizuela v. Lynch first among the list of the ten most significant cases he has decided. It could hardly be otherwise. His concurring opinion in Gutierrez-Brizuela calling for the Court to […]

Now that the potential repeal of Obamacare is off the table (at least for a while), it’s worth turning attention (by all stakeholders) to one of Obamacare’s provisions crafted to accommodate approaches advocated across the political spectrum as well as the balance between local and national scale: Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers and Section 1115 […]

The post has been revised to take into account feedback on how best to understand the manager’s amendment. Last night, House Republicans released the text of the final manager’s amendment to the American Health Care Act, including changes to the rules governing the essential health benefits. With these tweaks, the House hopes to pass the bill today. House […]

Here’s the call for papers: The Chapman Law Review is pleased to invite article submissions on the theme: “Constraining the Executive Branch.” Publications will appear in a symposium edition, and authors will receive an honorarium. The executive branch is often criticized for overreaching its powers. Legal issues arise regarding constraining such powers through legislation and […]

In a post entitled Gorsuch on Chevron, Eric Posner has posted the brief Q&A on Chevron deference from the first round of questioning of Judge Gorsuch before the Senate Judiciary Committee. For adlaw geeks, this exchange is definitely fascinating. During secound round, however, Judge Gorsuch went into much greater detail regarding his views on Chevron deference. […]

In a provocative post from last week, Adam White argued that the D.C. Circuit’s 2012 decision in Sherley v. Sebelius could create difficulties for parties who challenge agency actions taken pursuant to President Trump’s executive orders. Adam makes some good points, but I think Sherley is so badly reasoned that its holding ought to count […]