Judge Bumatay’s Powerful Warning in Lopez v. Bondi on Loper Bright Implementation, Skidmore Deference, and Stare Decisis

This week, in Lopez v. Bondi, the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing of a panel decision upholding the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) conclusion that petty larceny convictions are “crimes of moral turpitude.” Judge Bumatay authored a dissent. While Lopez is ostensibly an immigration dispute, it may have much broader administrative law implications…

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How vague statutory language enabled the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act overreach, and what Congress must do next

My latest op-ed in the Washington Reporter uses FOIA docs from the CHIPS Act implementation to demonstrate how ambiguous laws empower unelected bureaucrats and undermine democratic accountability: When Congress rejected sweeping child care subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reportedly told her staff, “if Congress wasn’t going to do what they…

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