Something unexpected happened last Saturday night. I was hard at work — true story, grading exams — in my home when the clock struck midnight. At that moment I heard fireworks! And it was not just from one house. I was more than a little puzzled. Who in the world would launch fireworks to celebrate […]
I haven’t counted but I suspect — with the possible exception of symposium weeks — that this week has been the busiest in the history of Notice & Comment. We have had posts aplenty about the CFPB. There was a mini-debate about whether Chenery II poses a threat to liberty (Richard Pierce says “never,” I […]
History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. And so the circumstances of Richard Cordray’s departure from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seem fitting. Nearly six years ago, Cordray arrived at the CFPB as one of purported “recess” appointments that President Obama ventured despite the fact that the Senate was not actually in recess, a maneuver that […]
The D.C. Circuit did a noteworthy yet routine thing this week — it denied rehearing en banc in Wrenn v. District of Columbia, the Court’s recent Second Amendment case. No judge even called for a vote. Why is this “noteworthy”? Because Wrenn addressed a constitutional issue and the panel opinion prompted a dissent. So why […]
This post is self-indulgent; I apologize. This week marks the end of another year of D.C. Circuit Review — Reviewed. My first post was on August 10, 2015. It is now August 11, 2017. Between those two dates, I’ve authored more than 100 posts about the work of the D.C. Circuit. (I don’t think anyone […]
Last week’s post discussed the Court’s en banc oral argument in PHH Corp. v. CFPB. This week’s post will discuss the other hugely important administrative law case pending before the en banc Court: Raymond J. Lucia Companies, Inc. v. SEC. The format will be the same — as will be the caveats. Again, I do […]
This has been a very busy week in the D.C. Circuit. Not only did the Court issue eight opinions, it also heard oral argument en banc in two of the most important administrative law cases of the year. (Jennifer Mascott has already shared her thoughts.) The oral arguments are fascinating. If you are interested, the […]
This week the D.C. Circuit sitting en banc heard arguments in its blockbuster (by Washington standards) double-header featuring the appointments and removal implications of Article II. In a nutshell, the cases address whether Article II’s transparency and accountability requirements mean (i) a single head of an executive branch agency must be removable at will (PHH […]
I don’t know much — or, rather, really anything — about military strategy. And I suspect that is true for a great many judges. Nonetheless, the judiciary often invokes the language of war. Solicitor Generals are addressed as General So-and-So. Judges speak of “soldiering on” and “barrages.” But perhaps my favorite military expression used by […]
One of the most important cases the D.C. Circuit decided last year was the so-called Amtrak case. As I mentioned last month, the government’s cert petition was due February 6th. No petition, however, was filed. Instead, the United States determined that it would not seek certiorari at all. Accordingly, the panel decision — with its […]
Standing is a big deal. Most agree, for instance, that the law professors suing President Trump about the Emoluments Clause “pretty clearly lack Article III standing.” Likewise, the States, members of Congress, and interest groups seeking to intervene in PHH Corp. v. CFPB no doubt are going to face a fierce challenge to their standing. […]
In PHH v. CFPB, the D.C. Circuit last October held unconstitutional Congress’s decision via the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to limit the grounds upon which a president could dismiss the director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. Whether or not that ruling survives, Professors Aditya Bamzai and John F. Duffy have […]
As one part of a statute officially entitled the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” Congress in 2009 established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as “an Executive agency” headed by a Director removable from office by the President “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Rumor now has it that […]
Extra, extra — Tenth Circuit explicitly disagrees with D.C. Circuit regarding SEC administrative law judges. This is a special, midweek edition of D.C. Circuit Review — Reviewed. The Tenth Circuit just created a circuit split with the D.C. Circuit about an important constitutional question. Earlier this year, the D.C. Circuit held that SEC Administrative Law […]
There’s been a lot of talk in Washington lately about the people President-elect Trump has chosen to fill various executive branch positions, but there’s one position we shouldn’t be hearing talk about him filling: Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). When Congress created the CFPB, it deliberately chose to insulate the CFPB Director […]