Trump Administration Withdraws Guidance on Affirmative Action In Admissions

Alison Somin

July 11, 2018

On Wednesday, July 3, the Departments of Education and Justice announced that they withdrew a group of Obama-era guidances regarding the use of race in school admissions.

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Anyone Know a Good Tailor?

Wayne A. Abernathy

June 28, 2018

It is difficult to find a public statement by a financial services policymaker these days where the policymaker does not invoke the importance of tailoring bank regulation and supervision.  This is major progress from the days of one-size-fits-all programs.  A fundamental characteristics of the U.S. banking system is its diversity of business models, developed over the years to match the diversity of financial services customers.  Can bank supervision be tailored to accommodate that diversity?

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Modern Privacy Advocacy

Matthew R. A. Heiman

June 12, 2018

In their thought-provoking essay, Gus Hurwitz and Jamil Jaffer explain that orthodoxy in the defense of privacy, a term that is ill-defined, may undermine the very value it tries to serve.

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Management’s Duty to Restore The Rule of Law

J. Kennerly Davis

June 6, 2018

Springtime is the season when most American corporations hold their annual meeting of shareholders.  In the course of a typical meeting, board directors will be elected and independent auditors will be appointed.  Management will report on operating results and earnings for the fiscal year recently ended, and will outline their strategic business plans for the future.  In their presentations, management will make the case that they are fulfilling the fundamental fiduciary duty they have to promote the best interests of the corporation and maximize shareholder value.

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Why is EPA’s Transparency Proposal Controversial?

Eileen J. O'Connor

May 24, 2018

The proposed rule was welcomed by those who believe it will improve rulemaking and public understanding of it.

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Affirmative Discrimination Against Asian American Applicants in College Admissions

Althea Nagai

May 22, 2018

The Asian American population and the number of Asian Americans going to elite colleges in the United States have exploded in the past few decades. However, since the 1990s, some admissions officers seem to regard being Asian American as a “minus” factor in an application even as they see being black or Hispanic as a “plus.” It’s not as if a college explicitly states that it needs to cap the number of Asian Americans admitted so that more applicants who are not of Asian lineage can get in.  Instead, commitments to “holistic admissions” and racial and ethnic “diversity” do the job.

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The Ongoing Battle Over the CFPB’s Constitutionality

Julius Loeser

May 18, 2018

Under former CFPB Director Cordray, the CFPB defended its constitutionality, but, now, under Acting Director Mulvaney, the CFPB is arguing that the issue is now moot because Acting Director Mulvaney has ratified the enforcement actions against All American and the President has the right to remove the Acting Director at will.

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Trends in Government Priorities, 1960 – 2019

Eileen J. O'Connor

May 15, 2018

A new report – by Susan Dudley of the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center and Melinda Warren of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis – shows that President Trump plans to increase regulatory activity for border security and immigration in 2019, and to dramatically reduce the budgets of agencies involved in environmental regulation.

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Celebrating Law Day

J. Kennerly Davis, Jr.

May 1, 2018

Today marks the 60th anniversary of President Eisenhower’s proclamation establishing Law Day. Eisenhower dedicated the day to “distinguish our governmental system from the type of government that rules by might alone.”

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Will OIRA Extend its Review to Independent Agencies?

Susan Dudley and Eileen J. O'Connor

April 26, 2018

At the Federalist Society’s Sixth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference, Office of information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”) Administrator Neomi Rao spoke about the new agreement she had hammered out with the Treasury Department to bring OIRA’s review of IRS regulations more in line with its review of other agencies’ regulations. She also strongly hinted that independent regulatory agencies may be next, observing that “OIRA review can promote a more constitutional and coherent regulatory policy,” and that the “good regulatory practices promoted by OIRA can apply to all agencies that regulate the public.” In her latest Forbes column, Susan Dudley agrees.  She argues that OIRA review encourages greater transparency, analytical rigor, and accountability in regulations, and urges the Administration to extend long-standing executive orders requiring OIRA review to all agencies that issue regulations binding on the public.

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