Separation of Powers

Imagine being dragged into a courtroom where the judge works for the prosecutor — and if (or, when) you lose, this judge-prosecutor pockets the money. Welcome to the dystopian world of FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. FINRA, a "self-regulatory organization," enforces federal securities laws but operates without the safeguard ...

As long as people have governed each other, leaders have passed the mantle of responsibility to others. As far back as 1689, John Locke wrote, "The legislative can have no power to transfer their authority of making laws, and place it in other hands." In other words, legislatures—not bureaucrats—should make laws. But that's been much more of ...

On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed President Trump to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) while lower courts continue to review the firing's legality. This is the latest in a series of firings as the president tests whether he can remove members of independent boards and commissions until a case officially reaches the Court. Co ...

The federal administrative state rightfully receives much attention from elected officials and policymakers. So should the state administrative state. State constitutions have unique features that the U.S. Constitution does not: They provide more robust protections for the separation of powers. State legislators should use these protections to d ...

When Integrated Life Choices was founded in 2006, it had a clear mission: to help adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live independently and engage meaningfully in their communities. Nearly two decades later, the Nebraska-based organization operates a statewide network serving vulnerable adults through 24-hour residential care, ...

A federal district court in North Carolina delivered an adverse ruling against Pacific Legal Foundation's client Joe Manis, who challenged the constitutional structure of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) administrative adjudication process. While the court ruled that USDA's in-house tribunals were constitutionally structured, the decisio ...

If the goal was to restore the constitutional separation of powers, the Congressional Review Act (CRA) has not lived up to expectations. Pacific Legal Foundation research found that for the nearly three decades since it was passed, Congress has used it to overturn just 0.04% of the more than 91,000 rules it's received from federal agencies. Mean ...

"A zero-risk world doesn't exist," writes Bethany Mandel for the New York Post. This may seem obvious, but, to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), it often seems like the goal. The CPSC is an independent federal agency charged with protecting Americans against unreasonable risks from what it deems defective or dangerous consumer produ ...

"This wolf comes as a wolf." Almost 40 years ago, Justice Antonin Scalia warned of the rise of a "fourth branch" of government: an unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy wielding power once reserved for the president. He was the lone dissenter in Morrison v. Olson, a 1988 Supreme Court case that upheld the creation of "independent counsels." The ...