Administrative state
July 18, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Harry Reid’s decision to end the judicial filibuster of nominees for U.S. courts of appeals may have paved the way for Republicans to confirm Justice Gorsuch by ending the same practice at the Supreme Court level. But that doesn’t mean Reid’s decision isn’t paying off for the left. In fact, it’s paying off with some regularity at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the second
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July 6, 2017 — Scott Johnson
At the RealClearPolicy site, editor M. Anthony Mills has posted a good summary of Professor Philip Hamburger’s critique of the administrative state — the regime of administrative law promulgated and administered by administrative agencies — set forth this year in the inspired Encounter Books pamphlet The Administrative Threat. I recently noted Professor Hamburger’s pamphlet here. I wrote about Professor Hamburger’s great work of scholarship on the subject — Is Administrative
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June 27, 2017 — Steven Hayward
I have been threatening for a few years now to write a book with the title Bureaucracy in America, which would attempt to do for our administrative state what Tocqueville’s Democracy in America did in the 19th century—explain the deeper cultural and philosophical aspects of the practice of American democracy. For it is Tocqueville who offers the preface to a serious reconsideration of our administrative state today, in his famous
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June 26, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Researching the constitutionality of the regime of administrative law, I came across a notice early in 2014 that Philip Hamburger’s Is Administrative Law Unlawful? was forthcoming in hardcover from the University of Chicago Press (it’s now available in paperback). “The audacity of hope” had nothing on the audacity of Hamburger. Indeed, the audacity of Hamburger was a cure for the audacity of hope. The question he posed in the title
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May 27, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Oh happy day! The DC Circuit Court of Appeals recently voided an FAA rule that impinged directly on Power Line’s Air Force—namely, my small drone fleet. The FAA required registration of drones starting several months back. Yet a recent statute governing the FAA, the “FAA Modernization and Reform Act” of 2012, explicitly states that the FAA “may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” But this being
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May 19, 2017 — Scott Johnson
President Trump named Ajit Pai chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. By my lights it ranks as one of Trump’s great appointments. Having served as a commissioner during the Obama administration, Pai had a front row seat to see the FCC’s assertion of control over the Internet under the guise of “net neutrality.” As a conservative Republican of libertarian stripe, Pai forcefully opposed the FCC takeover. See Tim Heffernan’s 2015
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April 29, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In a piece called “Why the Acosta nomination is very bad news for conservatives,” I wrote this about Alex Acosta, the then-nominee (since confirmed) for the job of Secretary of Labor: The Department of Labor plays a key role in areas of major interest to conservatives, especially immigration, wage and hour law, and civil rights. The left had its way, and then some, under Tom Perez, President Obama’s Labor Secretary.
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March 18, 2017 — Scott Johnson
The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court begins on Monday. Last week Steve Hayward predicted that some idiot would take up the mantle of Slow Joe Biden. “Instead of holding up Richard Epstein’s book Takings,” Steve wrote, “as Joe Biden did with Clarence Thomas in an effort to make Thomas repudiate his philosophy, I wouldn’t be surprised if the banned
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March 14, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Today’s Associated Press article on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch illustrates the fact that when it comes to judicial matters, most reporters have no idea what they are talking about. The headline is: “Gorsuch’s environment record: Neither a clear friend nor foe.” I should hope not! The role of a judge is not to be a “friend” or “foe” of the environment. It is to apply the facts of the
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March 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
I am pleased to note the announcement yesterday that Professor Philip Hamburger is one of four recipients of the 2017 Bradley Prize. The Bradley Prize will be awarded to Professor Hamburger at a ceremony to be held on April 6, 2017 at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C. The award carries a stipend of $250,000. I wrote Professor Hamburger to congratulate him. I thought readers might
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March 12, 2017 — Steven Hayward
Confirmation hearings for Neil Gorsuch will begin in about 10 days, and in addition to the usual leftist animus toward anyone who might be faithful to constitutional originalism, there is likely to be some vigorous questioning about Gorsuch’s attitude toward the “Chevron doctrine,” which is now one of the pillars of the administrative state. Instead of holding up Richard Epstein’s book Takings, as Joe Biden did with Clarence Thomas in
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March 1, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The administrative state is the #1 threat to our freedom, a fact which no one knows better than our friend Howard Root. Howard was the founder and CEO of Vascular Solutions, Inc., a successful medical products company that was set up as a victim by Barack Obama’s hyper-politicized Department of Justice. For five years, Obama’s DOJ persecuted and harassed Howard and his company with bogus claims. Thankfully, Howard Root had
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February 27, 2017 — John Hinderaker
The administrative state is the #1 threat to our freedom, a fact which no one knows better than our friend Howard Root. Howard was the founder and CEO of Vascular Solutions, Inc., a successful medical products company that was set up as a victim by Barack Obama’s hyper-politicized Department of Justice. For five years, Obama’s DOJ persecuted and harassed Howard and his company with bogus claims. Thankfully, Howard Root had
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February 27, 2017 — Scott Johnson
For the 20-plus years my friend Bruce Sanborn served as chairman of the Claremont Institute, we attended the annual meeting of the America Political Science Association over Labor Day weekend. At the APSA convention we attended the panels sponsored by the Claremont Institute. It was our idea of a good time. In those panels we heard a lot about “the administrative state,” frequently from Professor John Marini. Professor Marini had
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February 26, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, in a speech to CPAC, Steve Bannon declared that the Trump administration is battling for the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” CNN’s coverage of the speech appeared under the following headline: “Steve Bannon outlines his plan to ‘deconstruct’ Washington.” The Washington Post’s headline (in the paper edition) was similar. It mentioned “deconstruction” but not that which is to be deconstructed — the administrative state. In its story, CNN
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February 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
You may have heard that our own Steven Hayward has a new book that is available now on Amazon. I read the book in galley and think it is the best book I have read since Philip Hamburger’s Is Administrative Law Unlawful? of 2014. Steve is a gifted teacher and a born storyteller, qualities that are prominently on display in his new book. The themes of Steve’s book culminate in
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February 13, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
It was never a secret that, once inaugurated, Donald Trump would immediately begin undoing regulations that took effect in the last months of the Obama administration. We knew that, for such regulations, Trump would ask Congress to use the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to bypass filibusters in the Senate to overturn recently issued regs. President Trump and Congress have undertaken this process. The Washington Post is not amused.
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