Trump tightens control over regulatory judges
Source: Politico
President Donald Trump moved to tighten control over the in-house judges that implement much of the federal government’s regulatory agenda — his latest step to consolidate political power throughout the sprawling bureaucracy.
An executive order signed Tuesday gives agency heads greater discretion over the selection of so-called administrative law judges. These judges, typically promoted out of the federal civil service, make legal rulings that drive regulatory actions across the federal government.
The federal government employs 2,000 administrative law judges, with the greatest number in the Social Security Administration. They also adjudicate regulatory disputes in HHS, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the NLRB and the SEC. Their rulings can be, and often are, challenged in federal court.
The executive order, which follows on a June ruling by the Supreme Court, opens a new front in the Trump administration's war on the regulatory state. An earlier executive order in January 2017 required two deregulatory actions for every new major regulation enacted. Although that hasn't occurred, the pace of new major regulations has slowed to a crawl.
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Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/10/trump-judges-regulations-labor-676431
Politico's article last month on that Supreme Court ruling:
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/21/supreme-court-rejects-sec-in-house-judges-jeopardizing-rulings-642449
In a ruling that crossed political lines and represented a victory for the Trump administration, the high court said the SEC’s so-called administrative law judges are "officers" of the U.S. subject to the Constitution's Appointments Clause. That means they should be named by the SEC's commissioners. The SEC considers its five judges employees of the agency and they are hired by the staff.
The ruling may have broad implications for in-house judges in dozens of other federal agencies. Critics have blasted the system, saying the judges are making decisions without constitutional authority and give the SEC a home-field advantage in adjudicating cases.
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Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, wrote the majority opinion in the case, Lucia v. SEC. She was joined by five Republican appointees, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.
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