It’s often said that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” And this certainly is true of the history of administrative law: many of the issues we debate today, on the structure of agencies, the procedures that agencies should undertake, and the judicial review that agencies should take, echo strongly the debates of past […]

Last week the Obama Administration filed its opening brief in United States v. Texas, the pending case at the Supreme Court challenging President Obama’s immigration deferred action programs, known as DACA and DAPA. We haven’t seen Texas’ brief yet, but here are some initial reactions: Justice Scalia’s Mixed Legacy for Deferred Action Justice Scalia’s death […]

On March 30th, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. The question presented concerns “final agency action”: Is the Army Corps’ determination that the Clean Water Act applies to waters on private land “final agency action” reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act? According to […]

Kimberly Robinson has posted an interesting story about how early you have to get up to get a ticket to a Supreme Court argument. The answer: sometimes very early. This reminded me of my post from last October: “No One Should Be Waiting in Lines.” The Supreme Court, like the Washington Monument, should make at […]

The 12th Annual Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Institute (Institute) begins one week from today.  The Institute is hosted by the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice and sponsor, The Regulatory Group. This year’s Institute, which is chaired by John F. Cooney, Partner at Venable LLP and Vice-Chair of the Section, will take place […]

Tax season is right around the corner, and many Americans will soon discover that they paid more taxes in 2015 than they lawfully owed. On filing their returns, they will happily claim a tax refund. Suppose, however, that the President, with the support of Congress, decides that the rules should retroactively change. Rather than return […]

It never fails. You leave the country for a much-needed vacation and the Supreme Court drops an opinion you’ve been waiting for. On Tuesday, in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual, the Supreme Court rebuffed Vermont’s effort to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding health-care prices. In an opinion by Justice Kennedy, the Court held that ERISA prevented […]

Over at Marginal Revolution, Tyler Cowen has a prescient (and scary) post on the “fear of regulatory reprisal from a Trump administration,” drawing on Philip Hamburger’s provocative book—Is Administrative Law Unlawful?—as well as Adrian Vermeule’s ingeniously titled review of the book:No. (Hamburger has since posted a nice parry entitled Vermeule Unbound, alluding to Posner and […]

“The Second Hoover Commission’s 60th Anniversary and Lessons for Regulatory Reform” The Hoover Institution — 1399 New York Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. On March 16, the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice and the Hoover Institution will co-host an afternoon-long conference on the past, present, and future of regulatory reform, at the Hoover […]

The World Health Organization’s dismal handling of the Ebola outbreak has led to calls for sweeping reforms to the world’s system for managing infectious disease. The consensus view, though, is that we shouldn’t start from scratch. Laurie Garrett captures the prevailing wisdom in her incredible Foreign Affairs article on Ebola: The WHO performed so poorly […]