The hottest Administrative Law Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top U.S. Politics Topics

ROGUE JUDGE STRIKES AGAIN

Who is Robert Malone • 27 implied HN points • 16 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. A federal judge blocked the HHS secretary’s changes to the vaccine advisory committee and a shortened childhood immunization schedule, freezing meetings and policy updates.
  2. The judge has a pattern of issuing sweeping nationwide injunctions and was previously rebuked by the Supreme Court, which raises concerns about judicial overreach and politicized rulings.
  3. HHS plans to appeal and seek emergency relief, and the dispute highlights broader separation-of-powers fights over executive authority and the use of nationwide injunctions.

URGENT: A Biden-appointed federal judge has ruled the Trump administration may not change the childhood vaccine schedule or appoint new members of the vaccine advisory committee

Unreported Truths • 52 implied HN points • 16 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Health Secretary’s January 2026 changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and pausing new appointments to the federal vaccine advisory committee.
  2. The judge found the changes were made without sufficient explanation, labeled them “arbitrary and capricious,” and questioned whether some appointees had the required expertise.
  3. The lawsuit was brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other physician groups, the administration plans to appeal, and the ruling has prompted debate about judicial overreach and the plaintiffs’ standing.

A Power Grab by the Court

The Status Kuo • 11910 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. The Supreme Court case challenges the 'Chevron Doctrine' and could potentially shift regulatory power to judges.
  2. Conservative justices on the Supreme Court seem ready to overturn the established 'Chevron Doctrine' that's been in place for 40 years.
  3. Overruling the 'Chevron Doctrine' could lead to judicial activism, with impact on regulatory powers and potential legal chaos.

"The courts are dead." An interview with a fired immigration judge

The Watch • 895 implied HN points • 08 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. The immigration court system has been gutted: judges are being fired or bullied, DHS is pushing dismissals and arresting people in court, and a stacked appeals board plus new rules have all but erased fair hearings and due process.
  2. Some judges tried to resist by denying summary dismissals and protecting hearings, but immigration courts report to the DOJ, so judges lack independence and legal appeals are weakened, making court-based remedies unreliable.
  3. The answer has to be political and public, not just legal: raise awareness, pressure governors and Congress, support legal aid groups, and push back against the militarized, profit-driven tactics that are driving mass removals.

Trump's Schedule F Rule Finalized

Can We Still Govern? • 324 implied HN points • 06 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. The new Schedule Policy/Career rule removes job protections for many policy-making federal employees, making it much easier to fire them and weakening whistleblower and oversight safeguards.
  2. The rule ignores broad public and expert opposition and misrepresents research, while claiming politicization won’t occur and pushing a legal theory that expands presidential removal power.
  3. Lawsuits are likely, but if the rule stands it could hollow out the civil service, strip union protections, suppress transparency, and create long-term political control and instability in government.
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The Administrative State vs. The People's Mandate

Who is Robert Malone • 13 implied HN points • 16 Mar 26
🏥 Health Politics Administrative Law
  1. A federal judge halted the CDC's January 2026 immunization memo and froze recent ACIP appointments and prior ACIP votes, which in practice blocks the administration's vaccine schedule reforms across the country.
  2. The court relied on FACA and arbitrary-and-capricious reasoning to question the new ACIP's balance and member qualifications. Its treatment of a long-time vaccine researcher as lacking relevant expertise looks like judicial substitution for executive judgment.
  3. The administration has strong grounds to appeal, arguing the stay functions like a nationwide injunction under APA §705 and raising core separation-of-powers questions about who gets to set public health policy. Higher courts may need to decide whether lower courts can use APA stays to produce nationwide effects despite limits on universal injunctions.

How Justice Gorsuch Helped Save Us From a “Climate Emergency”

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 29 implied HN points • 04 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. The Court ruled a president can’t use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs by declaring a national emergency, a decision Justice Gorsuch joined that reinforces limits on unilateral executive action.
  2. Gorsuch has repeatedly applied the major questions doctrine to argue that major policy shifts must be authorized by Congress, not created by agencies or presidents acting alone.
  3. That legal approach blocks a pathway for future administrations to declare a climate emergency and unilaterally impose measures like carbon tariffs or export bans, meaning big climate policies will likely require new laws from Congress.

How Much Power Does the President Actually Have Over the Civil Service?

Can We Still Govern? • 139 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. The president actually has broad, statutory authority to shape hiring, exemptions, and conduct rules in the federal civil service—far more power than most people assume.
  2. That authority can be used to strengthen administrative capacity or to politicize and weaken agencies, and courts and Congress often defer or fail to check problematic uses.
  3. If we want laws to be implemented faithfully, Congress and the courts need to impose clearer statutory limits and enforce them, because professional norms alone won’t prevent abuse.

Mifepristone and the rule of law, part III

Adam's Legal Newsletter • 1377 implied HN points • 13 Apr 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit partially granted the FDA's motion regarding mifepristone, subjecting it to pre-2016 regulatory requirements.
  2. The Fifth Circuit's decision was criticized for its analysis of standing, with concerns raised about statistical certainty and the potential harm to doctors.
  3. The court's reasoning on timeliness and exhaustion was questioned, with issues seen as less relevant due to the stay on the 2000 approval of mifepristone. The argument that the FDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act was also discussed.

The PREP Act: Unchecked Power, Zero Accountability, and a Path Forward

Who is Robert Malone • 11 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
🏥 Health Politics Administrative Law
  1. The PREP Act granted sweeping legal immunity to manufacturers, healthcare providers, and others, blocking most lawsuits and even overriding state licensing rules, with protections extended years beyond the declared emergency.
  2. The Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision ended judicial deference to agencies, so courts must independently interpret statutes and are likely to scrutinize or reject many expansive PREP Act interpretations like state preemption or treating guidance as legal authorization.
  3. The HHS Secretary has clear authority to narrow, rescind, or end PREP Act protections by amending the declaration or letting provisions sunset, which would restore ordinary liability, state regulatory control, and individuals’ ability to seek legal redress.

Law Firms Pocket Millions Helping Nonprofits, Bureaucrats Expand Environmental Regulations

OpenTheBooks Substack • 4 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. "Sue and settle" lets environmental groups privately settle lawsuits with federal agencies so agencies agree to new rules, which can bypass Congress and public rulemaking.
  2. Taxpayers have paid over $20 million in plaintiff attorney fees since 2013, with payouts growing under recent administrations and those payments are often opaque and hard to oversee.
  3. The practice creates conflict-of-interest risks because lawyers and staff move between agencies, nonprofits, and firms, and efforts to curb the practice have been inconsistent so the issue remains unresolved.

Title 42, or when the only winning move is not to play

Adam's Legal Newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 04 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. Title 42 order, implemented during Covid, had legal challenges and was stayed by the Supreme Court - showing complexities in administrative law litigation.
  2. Legal cases involving political parties defending laws passed by the other party often lead to strategic maneuvers and Supreme Court interventions.
  3. Supreme Court decisions, like granting certiorari or stays, are highly discretionary and influenced by philosophical viewpoints, not clear legal rules.

OSD 247: ATF and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Open Source Defense • 56 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Administrative Law
  1. Recent legal challenges against ATF rules highlight administrative law complexities, not just gun rights.
  2. Engaging in detailed rule debates with ATF is less impactful than questioning their authority to create rules.
  3. The key to influencing government actions lies in making it politically beneficial for officials to act in the right way, or stripping away their power to act wrongly.