Arbitrary & Capricious

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Beau J. Baumann about his historical research into the Offices of Legislative Counsel. They discuss his forthcoming paper, Resurrecting the Trinity of Legislative Constitutionalism, and how Progressive reformers at the turn of the twentieth century built institutions to arrest congressional decline.Notes:Resurrecting the Trinity of Legislative Constitutionalism, Beau J. Baumann How Chief Justice Taft Wrote the Famous Myers Opinion, with Robert Post, Gray Matters 

Jace Lington chats with Jenn Mascott about Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to dismiss the classified documents case against Donald Trump. They discuss the Appointments Clause and the broader context of the debate surrounding the special counsel investigation of the former president.Notes:Judge Aileen Cannon's decision in US v. TrumpJustice Thomas's concurring opinion in Trump v. USJenn Mascott's Stanford Law Review article on the Appointments Clause

This is a rebroadcast of a panel discussion from an event we co-hosted on May 15, 2024, with the Manhattan Institute and the Federalist Society. The panelists discuss whether state tort law is an appropriate tool for addressing climate change and the petition for certiorari in Sunoco LP, et al. v. City and County of Honolulu.Featured Speakers:Jonathan Adler, Case Western Reserve University School of LawJames Copland, Senior Fellow and Director of Legal Policy, Manhattan InstituteDonald Kochan, Antonin Scalia Law SchoolJennifer Mascott, C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State

This is a rebroadcast of the Gray Center's Federal Preemption and Environmental Regulation Webinar. We hosted this event on April 29, 2024, to discuss the issues involved in two pending cases where energy companies have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the Clean Air Act preempts attempts by Honolulu, Hawaii, to redress certain climate change-related alleged injuries. Featured Speakers:Jonathan Adler, Case Western Reserve University School of LawRichard Epstein, New York UniversityEdmund LaCour, Solicitor General of AlabamaJennifer Mascott, C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative StateAdam White, C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State Notes:Video of the Webinar

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with former OIRA Administrator Paul J. Ray about his new paper, “Lover, Mystic, Bureaucrat, Judge: The Communication of Expertise and the Deference Doctrines.” In the paper, Mr. Ray critiques the expertise rationale for Chevron deference, arguing that agency employees can share much of the special knowledge they use to make decisions with reviewing courts. Notes:Lover, Mystic, Bureaucrat, Judge: The Communication of Expertise and the Deference Doctrines, Paul J. Ray Keynote Address and Fireside Chat, October 2023, Chevron on Trial: The Supreme Court and the Future of Agency Authority and Expertise 

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy recently hosted a series of webinars ahead of a forthcoming symposium on Equity and the Administrative State. This episode of Gray Matters is a panel discussion from February 23, 2024, about affirmative action and other ways regulators pursue equity through the administrative state featuring Ming Chen, Jesse Merriam, and Bijal Shah, moderated by Kmele Foster.Notes:Video of the Webinar

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy recently hosted a series of webinars ahead of a forthcoming symposium on Equity and the Administrative State. This episode of Gray Matters is a panel discussion about the use of racial classifications to make public policy and how race has affected the character of American institutions featuring David Bernstein, Jonathan Berry, and Joy Milligan, moderated by Renée Landers. Notes:Watch a video of the discussion

Jace Lington chats with Scalia Law Professor Donald J. Kochan about Florida and Disney. They discuss his recent paper applying public choice theory to Florida's Reedy Creek Improvement Act of 1967 and why the special treatment Disney received from the state is not a good model for state and local regulation.Notes:Disney v. Democracy? A Public Choice and Good Governance Analysis of Florida's Reedy Creek Improvement Act of 1967 and Its Resulting Regime, Donald J. Kochan

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Law Professor Jed Handelsman Shugerman about lingering issues following the Supreme Court's decision in the Biden v. Nebraska student loan case. They discuss a recent paper Shugerman presented at a Gray Center research roundtable, “Biden v. Nebraska: The New State Standing and the (Old) Purposive Major Questions Doctrine.”Notes:Biden v. Nebraska: The New State Standing and the (Old) Purposive Major Questions Doctrine, Jed Handelsman Shugerman Major Questions About Presidentialism: Untangling the “Chain of Dependence” Across Administrative Law, Jed Handelsman Shugerman and Jodi L. Short Standing Without Injury, Jonathan H. AdlerAn Originalist Defense of the Major Questions Doctrine, Michael D. Ramsey The Major Questions Doctrine: Right Diagnosis, Wrong Remedy, Thomas W. Merrill The Ghosts of Chevron Present and Future, Gary S. Lawson The Major Answers Doctrine, Lisa Heinzerling The New Purpose and Intent in Major Questions Cases, Anita S. Krishnakumar The Major Questions Doctrine: Unfounded, Unbounded, and Confounded, Ronald M. Levin The Minor Questions Doctrine, Aaron L. Nielson The Major Questions Doctrine Outside Chevron‘s Domain, Adam R.F. Gustafson

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Law Professor Michael D. Ramsey about how originalists can defend the major questions doctrine as a substantive canon of interpretation. He examines post-ratification court practice and other substantive canons designed by judges to minimize the harms of judicial error when interpreting ambiguous statutes. Ramsey recently presented a paper on this subject at a Gray Center research roundtable.Notes:An Originalist Defense of the Major Questions Doctrine, Michael D. Ramsey The Major Questions Doctrine: Right Diagnosis, Wrong Remedy, Thomas W. Merrill The Ghosts of Chevron Present and Future, Gary S. Lawson Biden v. Nebraska: The New State Standing and the (Old) Purposive Major Questions Doctrine, Jed Handelsman Shugerman The Major Answers Doctrine, Lisa Heinzerling The New Purpose and Intent in Major Questions Cases, Anita S. Krishnakumar The Major Questions Doctrine: Unfounded, Unbounded, and Confounded, Ronald M. Levin The Minor Questions Doctrine, Aaron L. Nielson The Major Questions Doctrine Outside Chevron‘s Domain, Adam R.F. Gustafson

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Ronald A. Cass about the future of judicial deference to agency actions. They discuss Cass's recent papers, “Fixing Deference: Delegation, Discretion, and Deference Under Separated Powers,” published by the New York University Journal of Law & Liberty, and “Getting Deference Right,” published by National Affairs. Ron insists on the crucial distinction between court decisions on what the law means and agency decisions about policy implementation.Notes:Fixing Deference: Delegation, Discretion, and Deference Under Separated Powers (NYU JLL, 2023) Getting Deference Right (National Affairs, 2024) Loper Bright Amicus Brief, Gray Center Separation of Powers Clinic Gray Center 2023 Rule of Law Symposium

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, the Mercatus Center, and the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of financial regulation. This episode of Gray Matters is a panel discussion featuring law professors Bridget C.E. Dooling and Kristin E. Hickman along with former OIRA Administrator Paul J. Ray and AEI Senior Fellow Emeritus Peter Wallison, moderated by Gray Center Co-Executive Director Adam White. They discuss OIRA oversight of financial regulators and how to reform federal financial regulations.Notes:Videos from the conference

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, the Mercatus Center, and the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of financial regulation. This episode of Gray Matters is a panel discussion featuring the Hoover Institution's John H. Cochrane and professors Kathryn Judge, Jonathan R. Macey, and Todd J. Zywicki, moderated by Scalia Law professor Paolo Saguato. They discuss banking regulation, consumer finance, and what might be coming next in the world of financial regulation.Notes:Videos from the conference

This episode of Gray Matters is the first of a three-part series and came out of a recent conference we hosted about the future of financial regulation. In this episode, Adam White speaks with former FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams about the current state of banking regulation. They discuss presidential oversight of the FDIC, how chairman McWilliams thought about her role, and the most pressing issues facing banks and regulators today.Notes:Videos from the conferenceChairman McWilliams's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about changes in FDIC practiceWall Street Journal editorial about Chairman McWilliams's resignation from the FDIC

Adam White and Jace Lington talk with Jonathan Wolfson about a new Cicero Institute report that ranks state regulatory systems based on their accountability, responsiveness, and transparency. They discuss cost-benefit analysis, regulatory sunset provisions, state-level centralized review modeled on OIRA, and venue restrictions.Notes:Matthew Nolan and Jonathan Wolfson, National Regulatory Reform: Progress Rankings Report 2023Matthew Nolan and Jonathan Wolfson, State Regulatory Processes Are Ripe for Reform, GoverningCicero Institute, Regulatory Sunset Model BillHarvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Administrative Law in the StatesEugene Scalia, 2023 C. Boyden Gray Lecture on the Administrative State, “The Administrative State Debate: A View From the Secretary's Office”2021, Stuart Shapiro, The Impossibility of Legislative Regulatory Reform and the Futility of Executive Regulatory Reform, George Mason Law Review

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the George Mason Law Review recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of Chevron Deference. This episode of Gray Matters is a panel discussion featuring Professors Caroline Cecot, Emily Hammond, and E. Donald Elliott, moderated by Senior Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. They focus on the future of Chevron deference in the context of environmental and energy law.Notes:Video from the conference

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the George Mason Law Review recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of Chevron Deference. This episode of Gray Matters is a panel discussion featuring Aditya Bamzai, Jonathan S. Masur, Eli Nachmany, Victoria F. Nourse, moderated by Judge Chad A. Readler of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.Notes:Video from the conference

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the George Mason Law Review recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of Chevron Deference. This episode of Gray Matters features a keynote address from Paul J. Ray, presenting his new paper about the expertise rationale for Chevron deference, and a fireside chat between Mr. Ray and Gray Center Co-Executive Director Jennifer Mascott, discussing his time as Administrator of OIRA.Notes:Video from the conferencePaul J. Ray's new paper on the expertise rational for Chevron deference

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the George Mason Law Review recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of Chevron Deference. This episode of Gray Matters features a discussion among Law Professors Lisa Schultz Bressman, John F. Duffy, and Daniel E. Walters about the Loper Bright case and whether some form of judicial deference is unavoidable in administrative law, moderated by Judge David J. Porter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.Notes:Video of the panel discussion from the conference

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and the George Mason Law Review recently hosted a full-day symposium on the future of Chevron Deference. This episode of Gray Matters features a discussion among Law Professors Kent Barnett, Christopher J. Walker, and Thomas W. Merril about the Loper Bright case and the future of Chevron deference, moderated by Judge Paul B. Matey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.Notes:Video of the panel discussion from the conference

Adam White and Jace Lington talk with Josh Chafetz and Noah Rosenblum about some of the big administrative law cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. They discuss the state of the Court, where things might be headed next, and problems with conservative critiques of the Administrative State.Notes:Noah Rosenblum, What We Talk About When We Talk About the Rule of Law in the Administrative State, New York University Journal of Law & Liberty, Vol. 16, No. 3 (2023)Josh Chafetz, The New Judicial Power Grab, St. Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 67 (2023)CFPB v. CFAS, Brief of Professors of History and Constitutional Law as Amici Curiae (2023)Beau J. Baumann, Americana Administrative Law, Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 111 (2023)Nikolas Bowie & Daphna Renan, The Separation-of-Powers Counterrevolution, Vol. 131, No. 7 (2022)Ashraf Ahmed, Lev Menand, Noah Rosenblum, The Tragedy of Presidential Administration, Gray Center Working Paper, 2021Josh Chafetz, Congress's Constitution (2019)Leah Litman, Debunking Antinovelty, Duke Law Journal, Vol. 66, No. 7 (2017)Kent Barnett & Christopher J. Walker, Chevron in the Circuit Courts, Michigan Law Review, Vol. 116, No. 1 (2017)Daniel R. Ernst, Tocqueville's Nightmare, Oxford University Press (2014)Richard E. Neustadt, Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents (1991)

Adam White talks with NYU Law Professor Richard Epstein and Gibson Dunn Partner Allyson Ho about the upcoming Supreme Court term. They discuss the recent oral argument in the CFPB funding case, the major questions doctrine, how the court should approach revisiting Chevron deference in the upcoming Loper Brightcase, and the adjudication system in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Jace Lington talks with AEI's Philip Wallach about his new book, Why Congress. They discuss what makes Congress central to the American system of representative government and reasons we should look to Congress as the best place to resolve the most contentious issues of our day. Notes: Why Congress, Oxford University Press, 2023The Revolution That Wasn't: Conservatives Against Congress, 1981-2018, Gray Center Working Paper 20-22Incompletely Theorized Agreements in Constitutional Law, Cass Sunstein, 2007

Adam White and Jace Lington talk with James-Christian Blockwood about his recent Government Executive article on civil service reform. They discuss current proposals to make more civil servants removable at will as well as ways to build a nonpartisan, professional federal workforce that protects the interests of the American people.Show Notes: Let's Rethink the Management of our Civil Service, GovExec, April 28, 2023Partnership for Public Service, Website"You Report to Me” Gray Matters Podcast with David Bernhardt, May 10, 2023“Do Public Sector Unions Make Government Unaccountable?” Gray Matters Podcast with Philip K. Howard, January 24, 2023From Merit to Expertise and Back: The Evolution of the U.S. Civil Service System, Joseph Postell, Gray Center Working Paper, February 6, 2020Restoring Accountability to the Executive Branch, Philip K. Howard, Gray Center Working Paper, February 6, 2020Quick Actions to Improve Recruitment, Hiring, and Accountability in the Federal Workforce, Jeffrey Salmon, Gray Center Policy Brief, March 2021Civil Service: Pulling In or Pushing Away, Sally Katzen, Gray Center Policy Brief, August 2020Jimmy Carter and Civil Service Reform, Stuart E. Eizenstat, Gray Center Working Paper, May 22, 2019This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5816490/advertisement

Adam White and Jace Lington talk with former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt about his new book, You Report to Me: Accountability for the Failing Administrative State. In the book, Secretary Bernhardt offers his perspective on reforming the administrative state based on years of public service at the Department of Interior spanning multiple presidential administrations.Show Notes: You Report to Me: Accountability for the Failing Administrative State, Encounter Books, May 9, 2023

Jace Lington talks with Adam White about the new book, Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936–1986, by James Rosen. They discuss Scalia's early life and career, including his family, his faith, and his work in private practice and as a lawyer and teacher. Adam highly recommends the book for anyone interested in Antonin Scalia and his contributions to our understanding of the Constitution and American institutions.Show Notes:Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936–1986, James Rosen, Regnery Scalia's Rise, Adam White, Commentary Teaching About the Law, Antonin Scalia, Christian Legal Society Quarterly Antonin Scalia, Legal Educator, Adam White, National Affairs

Former Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia delivers the Second Annual C. Boyden Gray Lecture on the Administrative State. Following an introduction by Boston University School of Law Dean Emeritus Ron Cass, Secretary Scalia discusses his time working at the Department of Labor and how his experience leading a cabinet agency affected the way he thinks about debates involving the administrative state.Show Notes: Video of Panel

Former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney and Stanford Law Professor Michael W. McConnell discuss the importance of Congress's power of the purse in constitutional government, an issue of significant importance in cases now before the Supreme Court, in a conversation with Gray Center Co-Executive Director Adam White.

Ronald A. Cass, Sally Katzen, and Noah J. Philips kick off the 2023 Annual Gray Lecture with a conversation about the "rule of law" in administrative law. This panel discussion builds on a forthcoming symposium featuring essays on the rule of law that will soon appear in the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty. The Gray Center and the NYU JLL cohosted an event in February on campus at NYU to discuss the themes of the essays. We were glad to bring the conversation to Washington, D.C., to continue the discussion.Notes:Video of the panel discussion

Adam White and Jace Lington talk with Judge Glock, director of research and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, about how progressive reformers designed independent regulatory commissions to replace the function of juries, the subject of his new article in Regulation magazine. Glock argues that the original approach to staffing regulatory commissions during the Progressive Era focused on... Source

The Honorable Neomi Rao gives keynote remarks about the tendency of courts to look at tradeoffs between the executive and judicial branches and largely ignore Congress in separation of powers cases. Her speech came out of a forthcoming symposium in the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty and took place on campus at NYU. Source

Professors Gary Lawson and Sally Katzen join Adam White to talk about the Roberts Court and administrative law on a panel moderated by Judge Steven J. Menashi. The discussion came out of a forthcoming symposium in the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty and took place on campus at NYU. Source

Professors Gary Lawson and Sally Katzen join Adam White to talk about the Roberts Court and administrative law on a panel moderated by Judge Steven J. Menashi. The discussion came out of a forthcoming symposium in the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty and took place on campus at NYU. Source

Professors Noah A. Rosenblum, Thomas W. Merrill, and Philip Hamburger talk about what the rule of law means in the context of administrative law on a panel moderated by Judge Rachel P. Kovner. The discussion came out of a forthcoming symposium in the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty and took place on campus at NYU. Source

Professors Noah A. Rosenblum, Thomas W. Merrill, and Philip Hamburger talk about what the rule of law means in the context of administrative law on a panel moderated by Judge Rachel P. Kovner. The discussion came out of a forthcoming symposium in the NYU Journal of Law & Liberty and took place on campus at NYU. Source

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Andrew Wheeler and Reeve Bull about Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's new approach to regulatory policy. They discuss the commonwealth's new Regulatory Economic Analysis Manual and how it will change the way Virginia regulatory agencies approach their work. Executive Order 19, Development and Review of State Agency Regulations VA Regulatory Economic Analysis... Source

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Andrew Wheeler and Reeve Bull about Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s new approach to regulatory policy. They discuss the commonwealth’s new Regulatory Economic Analysis Manual and how it will change the way Virginia regulatory agencies approach their work. Executive Order 19, Development and Review of State Agency Regulations VA Regulatory Economic Analysis... Source

On January 9, 2023, the C. Boyden Gray Center hosted a symposium, “Administrative Law in the States,” with the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and the Harvard Federalist Society. It featured the following participants: -Justice Brian Hagedorn, Wisconsin Supreme Court -Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit -Justice David N. Wecht... Source

On January 9, 2023, the C. Boyden Gray Center hosted a symposium, “Administrative Law in the States,” with the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and the Harvard Federalist Society. It featured the following participants: -Justice Brian Hagedorn, Wisconsin Supreme Court -Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit -Justice David N. Wecht... Source

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Philip K. Howard about the problems public unions create for modern governance, the subject of his new book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions. They discuss specific challenges faced by executive officials at the local, state, and federal level working with unionized employees and ways to address those issues. Source

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with Philip K. Howard about the problems public unions create for modern governance, the subject of his new book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions. They discuss specific challenges faced by executive officials at the local, state, and federal level working with unionized employees and ways to address those issues. Source

Adam White and Jace Lington chat with EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling and his chief counsel, Brad Kelley, about how to address the threat of employment discrimination posed by artificial intelligence tools, the subject of their new article in the University of Miami Law Review. They discuss how AI can help make the hiring process easier for employers and how using those tools intersects with... Source