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 […]
Apologies: I’m traveling this week so this post will be quick. In my mind, I can hear Judge Janice Rogers Brown say “This is stealing.” To be clear, I’ve not spoken with her about Keepseagle v. Perdue, one of the week’s big cases. So I suppose I don’t really know what she said. Even so, […]
This is a special midweek edition of D.C. Circuit Review — Reviewed. I’ll post again on Friday. Last Friday I offered a “small thought” about the chief judge of the D.C. Circuit — namely, that for the last few decades, the chief judge has left active status even when there was a very good chance […]
I did not think the President’s decision to fire James Comey as FBI Director would have any connection with the D.C. Circuit (well, beyond the fact that Judge Silberman was quoted in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s letter). Yet just a few days later, I see that Chief Judge Garland is being pitched as a […]
This has been a surprisingly quiet week in the D.C. Circuit: Only one new case — and it is not especially noteworthy. Yet the D.C. Circuit’s term is winding down and there are still many cases to decide. I expected more opinions. (On the other hand, for what it is worth, last year, the first […]
Last September I suggested that those trying to predict the Clean Power Plan outcome by looking at the judges and “counting ‘R’s and ‘D’s” may be in for a surprise. The D.C. Circuit, after all, is serious about its craft and the idea that cases can be predicted this way is — in the words […]
Apologies — this will have to be a quick post. I’m traveling.* On Friday, April 21, the D.C. Circuit issued two opinions about the power of knowledge. The government lost both cases — one in which it sought information and the other in which someone else sought information from it. In CFPB v. Accrediting Council […]
In case you missed it, Profesor Neomi Rao has been nominated to serve as the next Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In the world of “admin law,” there are few positions more important than OIRA Administrator. Cass Sunstein, a former OIRA Administrator, has explained at length why the position […]
Each week I try to come up with a new theme for the D.C. Circuit’s cases. It can be tricky. Last night, in particular, I worried about what I would write this week. Should I write something about soon-to-be-Justice Neil Gorsuch? Perhaps, but I did that last week. My sleep was thus uneasy; I certainly […]
It’s no secret that the D.C. Circuit is the launching pad for many Supreme Court justices. Indeed, prior to Justice Scalia’s passing, fully half of the Supreme Court came from the D.C. Circuit: Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Kagan. (Kagan counts for half; she was nominated to the D.C. […]
Perhaps I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the most surprising things for me when I clerked for the Supreme Court was the fact that there is a party for the clerks every week. Each Thursday evening, the clerks from one of the chambers hosts a “happy hour” — complete with a meal — for […]
This blog is hosted by the Yale Journal on Regulation — so I usually focus on blogging on, you know, regulation. Funny that. This week, however, I am making an exception. You see, I have an important public service announcement: If a foreign state is spying on you, there is a good chance you can’t […]
The D.C. Circuit decided three cases — and the NLRB lost in two of them. Throw in the NLRB’s loss last week and it has been a rough stretch for the agency. In ABM Onsite Services – West, Inc. v. NLRB, Judge Griffith — joined by Judges Srinivasan and Millett — addressed whether workers who […]
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 […]
Today the D.C. Circuit applied the Prill doctrine. There are many things about administrative law that I do not know well, but Prill is not one of them. In fact, Daniel Hemel and I are currently working on an article all about Prill (which we dub Chevron Step One-and-a-Half). We’ll publish it later this year. […]