RTP's Fourth Branch Podcast

Are state governors subject to the same separation of powers restrictions as the federal president? Expanding on a Regulatory Transparency Project panel discussion on emergency executive power during the pandemic, this event featured experts engaging in a broader separation of powers discussion about the distinctions between the federal and state separation of powers doctrines, using California as...

With the Supreme Court about to hear two cases involving the use of race in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, what do Americans actually think about preferential treatment? Dr. Althea Nagai, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO), presented her analysis of recent data from the Pew Research Center on what Americans believe colleges should consider...

Experts Ian Adams and Ike Brannon join the podcast to break down recent proposals regarding forced access to railroads. Is concentration an issue within the rail industry? If so, would forced access solve the problem? And what implications would a forced access rule have for the rail industry, and for technological innovation more generally? Read Ike's recent paper on the topic here: https://www.c...

In January 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) finalized its SUNSET Rule. Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (“RFA”) requires agencies to have a written plan to review their significant regulations every ten years to determine their impact on small entities (and to determine whether the regulations should be amended or rescin...

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping the country and governors throughout the nation were issuing declarations of emergency. What followed was a perhaps unprecedented period of emergency governance, wherein governors in many states asserted power to manage not only their state's economy, but significant portions of civil society, in response to the pandemic. The state of emergency con...

Data privacy and data security are tech policy concerns that resonate with many voters and policymakers. In the absence of federal data privacy legislation, some states have passed, and others are considering, their own legislation to deal with data privacy questions related to specific technologies including biometrics, among many others. While California had the first general data privacy law at...

Faced with a limited supply of recently-approved COVID-19 treatments, both the State and City of New York have issued directives instructing physicians and providers on how to prioritize treatment. One of the factors to be considered is race. In Roberts v. Bassett, two lifelong New Yorkers challenge the government's race-based allocation of potentially lifesaving COVID-19 treatments. Wen Fa, an at...

Social media has become a prominent way for lawmakers, public agencies, experts, and governments to communicate with the public. Meanwhile, a once-obscure provision in federal communications law — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — has become a political football because it provides liability protections to internet-based companies like Facebook and Twitter. Our guests, Kristian Stout...

"To better understand the challenges small businesses face and to offer recommendations," Institute for Justice's Andrew Meleta and Alex Montgomery "analyzed the codes of 20 large to mid-sized cities, interviewed entrepreneurs from across the country, and mapped out the real-world process of starting five common business types from the entrepreneur's perspective." They then compiled their findings...

Dr. Oonagh McDonald’s latest book, “Cryptocurrencies: Money, Trust and Regulation,” discusses the nature of money, the introduction of the first cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – and the maturation of the space, how regulators have approached the burgeoning industry, and whether cryptocurrencies might ultimately be viable alternatives to “money” as we know it today. The Regulatory Transparency Project wa...

Ian Adams joined the podcast to break down the policy aspects of a recent Twitter spat between Elon Musk and California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. What are telematics, and how are they used by the auto insurance industry? What is California's Proposition 103? What lessons can this episode teach about policy regarding emerging technologies more generally? Read Ian's recent piece on the to...

In October 2020, Michael Cannon and Jeffrey Singer proposed ending the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to decide which drugs are available only by prescription. Their solution: leaving the decision to the drugs' manufacturers. This Regulatory Transparency Project program featured Michael Cannon, former FDA official Joshua Sharfstein, and moderator Dan Troy discussing prescription dru...

On January 26, the Tennessee State Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Shaw et. al. v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, a case in which the plaintiffs are challenging a zoning provision that prevented them operating businesses out of their homes. The city argues that the provision is "rationally related to the legitimate goal of protecting the residential nature of neigh...

On February 2, 2022, Lawrence Gostin, David Hyman, and Jenin Younes joined the Federalist Society's Georgetown Law Student Chapter to debate COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Featuring: - Lawrence Gostin, University Professor, Founding Linda D. & Timothy J. O'Neill Professor of Global Health Law, Faculty Director of O'Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, Georgetown University - David Hyman,...

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 supplemented Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include, in addition to barring discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin, sex as a protected class in federally funded education programs or activities. The purpose of enacting Title IX was to ensure that everyone, regardless of sex, would enjoy a discrimination-free educati...

Experts Marc Scribner and Adam Thierer join us to provide an update on autonomous vehicle (AV) policy. Why has Congress been unable to pass significant AV legislation? How have the Department of Transportation and state governments filled that void? What are the best and worst examples of how governments should approach AVs? Related Reading: - "Congress' failure to enact an automated vehicle regul...

On January 13, the Supreme Court stayed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses, but allowed a vaccine mandate for staff at facilities receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding to go into effect. An expert panel joined us to break down these rulings' implications for administrative law, with a particular focus on what they migh...

In October 2020, India and South Africa filed a request at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to create an exemption from an international treaty known as TRIPS (Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) for technologies, drugs, and vaccines used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. If the WTO adopts the waiver, countries could refuse to issue and protect IP rights for those technolog...

The Supreme Court is now hearing the most closely watched environmental case in decades, which may decide the future of greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act. This case has already been the subject of an unprecedented Supreme Court stay that short-circuited the Obama administration's climate agenda and not one, but two, 7+ hour arguments before the D.C. Circuit. Jonathan Brightbill and...

Health policy expert Jeff Stier joins the podcast to discuss all things concerning the regulation of e-cigarettes and vapes: How did the FDA get the authority to regulate tobacco in the first place? What is synthetic nicotine, and what might its developement demonstrate about the interplay between federal agencies and their statutory authority? What are the most recent FDA actions in this area, an...

The last few months have seen significant changes at the Federal Trade Commission. The new FTC has set an ambitious agenda that revives the agency, propelling it in directions we haven’t previously seen. The FTC is poised to engage in wide-ranging antitrust and consumer protection investigations, issue industry-wide rules, and blend antitrust and consumer missions for a better outcome. F...

The FTC is undertaking an ambitious and historic effort to craft de novo competition and privacy rules that will impact the entire U.S. economy. While some have applauded FTC's efforts, others have questioned the FTC's statutory authority to craft such rules. This webinar featured a panel of experts discussing the agency's statutory authority, processes and procedures, and specific rules that may...

On June 25, 2021, President Biden's newly appointed Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge proposed to rescind a Secretary Carson-era disparate impact rule designed to implement the Fair Housing Act. In its place, HUD would reinstate the 2013 Discriminatory Effect Standard because the 2013 rule "better states Fair Housing Act jurisprudence and is more consistent with the Fair Housing Act's remedial purpos...

In this episode, Professor David Hyman interviews Dr. Richard Williams about Dr. Williams' new book, "Fixing Food: An FDA Insider Unravels the Myths and Solutions." A twenty-seven-year veteran of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, Dr. Williams questions the accuracy of more than thirty years of food labeling, along with consumer education on diet/disease relationships and failed attem...

Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing is growing in popularity, especially after major investment firm BlackRock signaled support for what it called "ESG Integration," or the practice of incorporating material ESG information into investment and divestment decisions. However, since this strategy is relatively young, the short–and long–term merits and potential harm to inve...