This spring, I had the pleasure of participating in the Yale Journal on Regulation conference on “Regulatory Change & the Trump Administrative.” I was honored to be a speaker on the “Changes in Administrative Law in the Executive Branch” panel, along with Professors Gillian Metzger (Columbia) and Bridget Dooling (George Washington). Our moderator was Professor Nicholas […]
Welcome back to Ninth Circuit Review-Reviewed, your monthly recap of administrative law before arguably “the second most important court in the land.” Let’s get straight to last month’s controversies. The Elusiveness of Plain Meaning in Organic Statutes Outside of date-certain deadlines, are enabling acts ever truly plain? This week’s lead case presents an instance where […]
Today was a big day for the Yale Journal on Regulation. The Journal hosted a conference on “Regulatory Change & the Trump Administrative State.” I was able to participate on the “Changes in Administrative Law in the Courts” panel. Because the D.C. Circuit was quiet this week,* this post will address some of my remarks. […]
In the summer of 2016, I wrote in Fortune that then-candidate Trump was “the single-biggest challenge to [Fed independence] in recent memory,” and that his challenge was transparent: “this wolf comes as a wolf,” I wrote, invoking Justice Scalia. The reason is simple: Trump cannot abide separate centers of power, and he relishes tearing down […]
I started writing D.C. Circuit Review–Reviewed in August of 2015. Each August since 2015, I have asked myself whether it is worthwhile to keep going for another year. So far, my answer has always been, “Sure, why not?” But this year I’m wavering. There are downsides to these posts; they take a lot of time, […]
When President Obama nominated Chief Judge Garland to the Supreme Court, I put together a list of his dissents and concurrences. As I explained then: President Trump has just nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. With the help of two hard-working research assistants* I’ve put together a similar list for him. Note that […]
You may have noticed that Notice & Comment has hosted a series of posts highlighting the administrative law views of several judges on President Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. In light of this week’s big news (and no, we aren’t talking about the D.C. Circuit’s Revised Bills of Costs), it’s time for D.C. […]
Amidst the flurry of administrative–law–related opinions that the Supreme Court handed down at the end of last week, an intriguing separation-of-powers-related opinion from the Southern District of New York (SDNY) received comparatively little immediate attention. Last Thursday, Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) cannot bring an enforcement action in district […]
If you care about administrative law judges (and who doesn’t?*), you ought to follow Kent Barnett on Twitter (ugh). He knows more about ALJs — and their cousins, administrative judges — than anyone I know. And if you care about the Appointments Clause (and, again, who doesn’t?**), you ought to follow Jenn Mascott on Twitter. […]
Reading How Appealing, I stumbled across this provocative headline: “Did the Supreme Court Just Gut the New Deal?” I later found a similar headline: “Neil Gorsuch Just Demolished Labor Rights in a Frontal Attack on the New Deal.” The subject of these headlines, of course, is the Supreme Court’s opinion in Epic Systems v. Lewis, […]
Perusing the internet, I see that a study suggests cable news may make one less informed about the world. What a depressing thought. My instinct is to question such a claim, at least if the point is taken too far. Although, no doubt, there are often much better ways to gain information and televised news […]
Today the Supreme Court will hear argument in Lucia v. SEC about whether Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judges (ALJs) exercise “significant authority” and thus are subject to the Constitution’s Appointments Clause requirements. The straightforward arguments from the government and the petitioner, showing how ALJs are “officers” under Supreme Court precedent, history, and the […]
Four colleagues and I drafted an amicus brief on behalf of neither party that we filed on behalf of 29 administrative law scholars in Lucia v. SEC. The brief took no position on whether Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are employees or inferior officers. It urged the Court to issue an opinion that respects the decision […]
This was a quiet week in the D.C. Circuit — that is, unless you study Internet Law.* The D.C. Circuit again confronted the turbulent waters of “net neutrality.” Indeed, it did so in two ways, one high profile and one low profile. High profile, more than 20 States refiled their petition for review of the […]
If you peruse the D.C. Circuit’s webpage often — and, really, who doesn’t? 😉 — you’ve no doubt noticed an announcement that hasn’t changed for a long time: This may confuse you. First, why is dated “2014-15”? And second, why is an announcement about clerkship hiring of all things given arguably the most prominent placement […]