Category: Federal

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a pro bono law firm with a focus on the administrative state, filed a lawsuit on December 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on the grounds that Congress unlawfully delegated appropriations power to the agency in violation…

Two U.S. representatives announced last week they will not seek re-election to the U.S. House: Republican Reps. Mark Meadows (NC-11) and Mark Walker (NC-06). That brings the number of Republicans retiring from the House to 25. To date, four senators (three Republicans and one Democrat) and 34 Representatives (25 Republicans and nine Democrats) are not…

On December 17, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved Paul Ray, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). After approval, Ray’s nomination moved from the committee to await a vote in the full U.S. Senate. OIRA is a federal agency located within the Office…

The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity. During the week of December 9 to December 13, the Federal Register increased by 1,156 pages, bringing the year-to-date total to 68,324 pages.…

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) announced on December 10, 2019, that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House in 2020. Yoho said he had pledged to serve no more than four terms. Yoho was first elected to the U.S. House representing Florida’s 3rd District in 2012. He was the 23rd Republican member of the…

On December 10, the U.S. Supreme Court released its first opinion of the 2019-2020 term. In Rotkiske v. Klemm, the court affirmed the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, holding that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s (FDCPA) “statute of limitations begins to run when the alleged FDCPA violation occurs, not when…

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case next year that may restrict the ability of the executive branch to use expedited procedures in some asylum cases. At issue is whether asylum seekers may challenge the procedures used by immigration officials to deny an asylum application. In Department of Homeland Security (DHS) v. Thuraissigiam, the…

On December 6, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Carney v. Adams, which concerns judicial selection in Delaware, during its October 2019-2020 term. As of December 9, 2019, the court had agreed to hear 58 cases this term. As of December 2019, when the governor of Delaware filed a petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, Article IV,…

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed establishing a new independent federal agency to manage the federal student loan program. DeVos argued that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), which manages the federal government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio, was not created to function as an apolitical bank, despite congressional policy expectations.…