Necessary & Proper Podcast

The concept of states serving as important test cases for national governance dates to the founding of the country. In part 2 of our series, this panel will discuss how lessons from how different state legislatures operate today could be incorporated to increase the effectiveness of our federal legislature. The panel begins with a presentation on a study from the Center for Legislative Strengtheni...

The concept of states serving as important test cases for national governance dates to the founding of the country. In part 2 of our series, this panel will discuss how lessons from how different state legislatures operate today could be incorporated to increase the effectiveness of our federal legislature. The panel begins with a presentation on a study from the Center for Legislative Strengtheni...

This episode was hosted and recorded on October 15, 2019 by the Temple University Beasley School of Law Student Chapter.

Recorded at University of St. Thomas School of Law on September 19, this event focused on the benefits and drawbacks of the electoral college.

On July 19, 2019, the Federalist Society's Article I Initiative cosponsored a two-part panel with the Constitutional Sources Project at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. The topic of the first panel was early state constitutions and their influence on the legislative branch. The concept of states serving as important test cases for national governance dates back to the founding...

The strictures of the Appointments Clause are receiving renewed attention in the courts, including the Supreme Court. A year ago, the High Court ruled that the SEC’s administrative law judges must be appointed in conformity with this clause, and it has placed another Appointments Clause case on the docket for its next term. In Buckley v. Valeo (1976), the Court held that rulemaking was a sig...

On June 18, 2019, the Federalist Society's Article I Initiative and Regulatory Transparency Project hosted a panel on "Agency Rulemaking: Unnecessary Delegation or Indispensable Assistance?" at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. In his recent article, “Strategic Institutional Positioning: How We Have Come to Generate Environmental Law Without Congress,” published in the Texas A...

On May 30, 2019, the Federalist Society's Article I Initiative hosted a panel at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The panel discussed "All the President's Budgets: Who should be setting federal budget priorities?" The power of the purse is often cited as central to the framers' design for the legislative branch. Each year, however, the modern Congress waits for the executive b...

What is the proper balance between Congressional oversight and Executive privilege? As it becomes clear that Congress is not satisfied with the Mueller Report on its face, and it will seek to conduct follow-up inquiries on its own, it has requested an unredacted copy of the Mueller Report, and its supporting documentation, and several witnesses who were interviewed during the investigation, includ...

On May 6th the Article I Initiative partnered with the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter to host Congressman John Rutherford of Florida’s 4th Congressional District to share his thoughts and reflections on the current state of the Legislative Branch, whether Congress is living up to the Founder’s original vision, and how his chamber can overcome the current partisan climate to better serve...

On April 15th, 2019, the Federalist Society’s Article I Initiative and the University of Kentucky Student Chapter hosted Congressman Andy Barr who addressed the audience on the legality of the Executive Branch's designation of a national emergency on the nation's southern border. Featuring: Hon. Andy Barr, Congressman, Kentucky's 6th District As always, the Federalist Society takes no partic...

On February 6, 2019, the Federalist Society's Article I Initiative and the Georgetown Student Chapter co-sponsored the first Legislative Branch Review Conference. Senator Lindsey Graham offered the keynote address. Featuring: Hon. Lindsey Graham, Senator, South Carolina Introduction: Dean A. Reuter, General Counsel | Vice President & Director, Practice Groups, The Federalist Society As always,...

Welcome again to Necessary & Proper. Today we bring you the great discussion we had from the closing panel of the 2019 Legislative Branch Review Conference, held on the Hill in February in partnership with the Federalist Society's Georgetown Student Chapter. The panel reflected on the history of bipartisan Congressional investigations and shared their expectations for how civil, united, and fa...

Welcome again to Necessary & Proper. Today we bring you the great discussion we had from the afternoon panel of the 2019 Legislative Branch Review Conference, held on the Hill in February in partnership with the Federalist Society's Georgetown Student Chapter. The panel speculated on what a world without Chevron deference doctrine could look like, and if it would be desirable. We hope you find...

In this episode we bring you the great discussion we had from the opening panel of the 2019 Legislative Branch Review Conference, held on the Hill in February in partnership with the Federalist Society's Georgetown Student Chapter. The panel asked, "Can the Other Branches Help Restore Congress?", exploring how and if executive and judicial efforts could stoke the legislative ambition Madison expec...

The Hon. James L. Buckley and Robert Gasaway recently joined us to discuss the current state of the legislative branch and reflect on a host of Article I and federal government reform proposals ranging from term limits to eliminating grants-in-aid to state and local governments. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

On this episode, we bring you an event from last December with our Charleston, South Carolina Lawyers Chapter. Their guest was former Congresswoman Sue Myrick and her wide-ranging remarks covered various congressional reform efforts, from former members and other groups, discussion of the current political environment, and much more. Featuring: Former Rep. Sue Myrick, U.S. Representative for North...

On December 11, 2018, the Federalist Society's Capitol Hill Chapter and Article I Initiative cosponsored a panel on "The New Congress and Congressional Oversight." As always, the Federalist Society takes no particular legal or public policy positions. All opinions expressed are those of the speakers. Featuring: Introduction: Nathan Kaczmarek, The Federalist Society's Article I Initiative Steve Cas...

On December 10, 2018, Senator Jon Kyl (AZ) spoke at an event co-sponsored by the Article I Initiative and the DC Young Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. Senator Kyl reflected on his time in the Senate and the role of Congress. We hope you enjoy his remarks Featuring: Senator Jon Kyl, United States Senator, Arizona Moderator: Lisa Ezell, Vice President & Director of Lawyers Chapters, T...

On October 17, the Student Chapter at the University of Virginina School of Law hosted a debate on immigration covering child separation policy, DACA, the proposed border wall, and Article I powers. This discussion featured the views of David Bier of the CATO Institute and Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation. We hope you enjoy it.

On October 29, 2018, the Federalist Society's Kentucky lawyers chapters hosted the second annual Kentucky Chapters Conference. Sen. Mitch McConnell offered the keynote address on the role of judges, the Senate's power of advice and consent, and the process of Supreme Court confirmations.

American trade policy has been the subject of much interest and media attention over the last two years. The Constitution grants the legislative branch full authority over trade policy, including the power to impose and collect taxes, duties, tariffs, and to regulate international commerce. By contrast, the Constitution gives the President authority to negotiate international agreements and it ass...

On October 4, the Georgetown Chapter held an event titled "Is the Nondelegation Doctrine Really Dead?: A Post-argument Discussion of Gundy v. United States". This panel was moderated by Professor Evan Bernick (Georgetown) and the panelists were Todd Gaziano (Pacific Legal Foundation) and Amanda Shanor (American Civil Liberties Union). We hope you enjoy this podcast!

On today's episode, we bring you a discussion held at the Georgetown University Law School chapter on Federalism and Marijuana Policy. Moderated by Prof. Randy Barnett of Georgetown, Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation and Ilya Shapiro of the CATO Insitute debate this subject.

The Constitution did not create a direct democracy; it established a constitutional republic. Its goal was to preserve individual liberty. To this end, the Framers provided that the power of various political actors would derive from different sources. One example from the Founders’ original design was the election of U.S. Senators by state legislators. However in 1913 the Seventeenth Amendm...