Separation of Powers

Cody Peterson is a third-generation farmer in eastern North Dakota. For decades, his family has been committed to growing food for other families. But recent actions by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service threaten Cody's ability to make a living from farming. The problem comes from the Service's new interpretation of decades-old easements the a ...

When federal agencies want to stretch their powers beyond what Congress authorized, they can get almost admirably creative. Case in point: For fifty years, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service have redefined what it means to "take" an endangered animal. The Endangered Species Act authorizes the Fish ...

What sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the rest isn't just a great idea (although that doesn't hurt); it's the rare ability to take a concept and turn it into something tangible. Eva St. Clair and Rebecca Melsky had no experience starting a business, but they had a vision for a kids' clothing company that smashed stereotypes, and most import ...

Board game companies Stonemaier Games, XYZ Game Labs, Spielcraft Games, Rookie Mage, and Tinkerhouse Games are suing the Trump administration over its tariffs, which President Donald Trump set at 145% for most products manufactured in China. Nearly 70% of board games are made in China, making the China tariff an "existential" threat to the American ...

"We the People" are among the most recognizable words in human history. They begin the preamble to the United States Constitution: the mission statement, to borrow modern corporate lingo. The preamble tells us who was acting and, more importantly, why:  "in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide ...

Last week, President Donald Trump announced that his administration would be slapping tariffs on an enormous share of the things Americans buy. Tariffs have a long history in the United States. But the president does not possess the constitutional authority to create tariffs unilaterally. This power is vested solely in Congress and cannot be delega ...

There's so much interesting stuff happening at the Court that you get not one, but two scoops of SCOTUS this week. In Part I, I'll discuss all of the opinions that were released over the past two weeks. In Part II, we'll recap some of the wild oral arguments. Let's dig in! Even after the demise of Chevron deference, the government is gonna win som ...

Note: The photo above is of the Sacketts' Idaho property (marked by dotted line), which the EPA claimed was regulable as "navigable water." It's been nearly two years since the Supreme Court ruled for our clients, Chantell and Mike Sackett, in the landmark Clean Water Act case Sackett v. EPA. Yet the government still isn't complying with the jus ...

The Supreme Court heard oral argument on Wednesday in the case of FCC v. Consumers' Research, which involves a nondelegation challenge to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. PLF filed an amicus brief in the case—because the nondelegation doctrine, which says Congress cannot delegate its lawmaking responsibilities, is key to PLF's fight for the cons ...