D.C. Circuit Review – Reviewed: Permitting Authority
The D.C. Circuit struck down the EPA’s decision to let Florida assume Clean Water Act permitting authority after finding the Fish and Wildlife Service’s exemption of Endangered Species Act liability arbitrary and capricious. The court also vacated the Service’s no‑jeopardy determination, concluding it violated statutory requirements. Judges Pan and Wilkins ruled the EPA relied on unlawful agency actions, while Judge Henderson dissented, arguing the approvals should stand. The decision restores the requirement for separate ESA permits on projects that could harm protected species.
Ad Law Reading Room: “Protecting Perkins: Removal, Supervision, and Article II,” By Amy Wildermuth and Peyton Baker
Wildermuth and Baker’s new article revisits the 1886 *United States v. Perkins* decision, arguing that Congress can lawfully restrict removal of inferior officers when their appointments are vested in department heads. The authors trace Perkins’ doctrinal lineage through landmark cases...
Seeking Proportionality in Administrative Law
The George Washington Law Review published a foreword urging proportionality as a guiding principle for administrative law. The author argues that Congress, agencies, and courts should calibrate their involvement based on the significance of regulatory actions. Recent Supreme Court decisions,...
New ABA Book: Leading Cases in Administrative Law
The American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice has released *Leading Cases in Administrative Law*, edited by Matt Wiener after the late Anna Shavers’ passing. The volume features 35 concise chapters, each dissecting a landmark judicial decision,...
Registration Open: 2026 ABA Spring Administrative Law Conference, May 7-8, 2026, Washington DC
The American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section is opening registration for its 2026 Spring Conference in Washington, D.C., scheduled for May 7‑8. The two‑day event features hot‑topic CLE sessions on May 8, including panels on post‑Loper Bright reforms, Trump‑era...
Save the Date: 4/29 @ 12:30pm EDT–Webinar in Celebration of the Publication of the 3rd Edition of the Comparative Administrative...
The Edward Elgar 3rd edition of the Comparative Administrative Law Handbook, subtitled “New Voices, New Perspectives,” will be celebrated with a live webinar on April 29, 2024, from 12:30‑2:00 pm EDT. Yale’s Susan Rose‑Ackerman will open the session, followed by co‑editors Megan Pfiffer, Mariana Mota Prado, and Blake Emerson...
Fifth Circuit Review – Reviewed: Old Causes of Action and Growing Fissures in the Right
The Fifth Circuit vacated the FTC’s cease‑and‑desist order that barred Intuit from marketing TurboTax products as free, ruling the agency’s internal adjudication violated the separation of powers. The court relied on the Supreme Court’s *SEC v. Jarkesy* decision, characterizing deceptive‑advertising...
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 Isn’t for Trade Deficits, by Christine Abely
On February 20, the Trump administration announced temporary import tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a provision intended to address fundamental balance‑of‑payments crises. The article explains that Section 122 creates a mandatory presidential duty to impose a surcharge...
The Civil Service After the Demise of Humphrey’s Executor
A draft paper titled “Article II and the Civil Service,” soon to appear in the Virginia Law Review, examines how recent Supreme Court trends threaten the traditional insulation of the federal bureaucracy. The authors argue that a unitary‑executive view, a...
The Law of For Cause Removal by Jane Manners and Lev Menand
The Supreme Court is set to decide Trump v. Cook, a case that tests the meaning of “for cause” removal after President Trump attempted to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Jane Manners and Lev Menand’s new paper traces the nineteenth‑century...
The Trouble with Policing Adjudicatory Rulemaking, by Tascha Shahriari-Parsa
The Sixth Circuit ruled in Brown‑Forman Corp. v. NLRB that the National Labor Relations Board must adopt new remedial bargaining standards through notice‑and‑comment rulemaking, not adjudication. The court held the Board’s Cemex‑derived standard was invalid because it was not motivated...
Only One-Third of Proposed Regulatory Obligations Survive to the Final Rule, by Andrew Leahey
A new study of Federal Register rulemaking shows that only about one‑third of proposed regulatory obligations survive unchanged into final rules. Across 954 paired proposals, 32% of obligations persist, while the majority are removed or rewritten, and final rules introduce...
D.C. Circuit Review – Reviewed: A Brief Recap of Orders
The D.C. Circuit issued two notable orders last week. In Miot v. Trump, the panel rejected the government’s request to stay the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals, voting 2‑1 and finding the administration had not demonstrated irreparable...
Can We Legally Trade on Anything? By Oren Stern
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket let users trade on speculative events, from alien confirmations to geopolitical outcomes. While the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversees these platforms under the Commodity Exchange Act, the law explicitly bans contracts tied to...
The Change-in-Position Doctrine After Centro De Trabajadores (D.C. Cir.)
The D.C. Circuit’s opinion in *Centro de Trabajadores Unidos v. Bessent* refines the change‑in‑position doctrine after *Loper Bright*. The panel affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against an IRS‑ICE memorandum and held that when a statute unambiguously backs an...