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. Trump Justice Thomas's concurring opinion in Trump v. US Jenn Mascott...

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 Schoo...

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 Speake...

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 :...

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 s...

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 ins...

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 Reed...

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 Sta...

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...

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 be...

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 Fel...

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 S...

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 is...

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...

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 Columb...

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:...

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 J...

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 admin...

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...

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 Sta...

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 Bright case, 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, 2023 The Revolution That Wasn’t: Conservatives Against Congress, 1981-201...

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 , G...

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 R...

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 ins...