When a government agency defends its actions by saying, “But we’ve always done it this way,” it’s worth taking a closer look. This argument is a common theme in the government’s response to legal challenges against agency actions. However, it doesn’t hold as much legal weight as one might think. Longevity and repetition alone don’t…

True to form, the Supreme Court saved one of its most important decisions for the final opinion day of the 2023 Term. On July 1, 2024, the Court handed down its opinion in Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors. The cries of anguish from supporters of the administrative state were only eclipsed by the…

In a post last year on this blog, I noted the irony and unfairness of allowing federal agencies to keep millions (if not billions) of dollars they had illegally confiscated from private citizens based on claims that those private citizens had previously obtained those funds through their own wrongdoing.  In particular, I noted recent Supreme…

In 1934, Congress established the SEC and gave it a three-part mission: (1) to protect investors, (2) to maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and (3) to facilitate capital formation. However, in March, the SEC adopted a final rule requiring public companies to disclose various levels of climate information including, among many other categories, “any…

On Friday, June 28, 2024, in Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo and Relentless Inc. v. Dept. of Commerce (a huge win for NCLA!), the Supreme Court overruled Chevron deference—the judicially invented doctrine that required federal judges to defer to administrative agencies’ interpretation of statutory language. For some forty years, the Chevron doctrine allowed…

Many non-lawyers instinctively recoil when unelected agency bureaucrats inject hotly debated social issues into federal regulations. The common man intuitively understands what agencies do not—agencies need Congress’s permission before they enact regulations. Agencies have toppled Congress’s authority by a slight-of-hand called manipulative statutory interpretation. Legitimate statutory interpretation is a Nancy Drew-esque sleuthing escapade to determine…