Why Does Congress Delegate Power?

On October 8, 2019, the Gray Center lost a great friend and mentor when Michael Uhlmann passed away at the age of 79. Professor Uhlmann served most recently as a Professor of Government at the Claremont Graduate University and Claremont McKenna College; previously he served in the federal government’s executive and legislative branches, taught at George Mason University, and contributed his efforts and experience to many other institutions. He was a friend and mentor to many, including the Gray Center’s Director, Adam White. We were grateful to him for serving on our Advisory Council, and we miss him greatly.

In his honor, we are releasing the audio from a 2019 conference at which he spoke on Congress and the Administrative State.

On February 22, 2019, the Gray Center hosted a conference on “Congress and the Administrative State: Delegation, Nondelegation, and ‘Un-Delegation.’” The conference brought together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss Congress’s delegations and the Supreme Court’s nondelegation doctrines in panel sessions centered around new working papers, which are all available on the Gray Center’s website. Syndicated Columnist George Will provided keynote remarks at this event.

The second panel session examined why Congress delegates power. During the panel, speakers discussed two new papers: One by University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Professor Joseph Postell on “The Legislative Politics of Legislative Delegation,” and one by New York Law School Professor David Schoenbrod on “Consent of the Governed: An Underenforced Constitutional Norm.” This discussion was moderated by Melanie Marlowe, and introduced by the Gray Center’s Executive Director, Adam White. Postell, Schoenbrod, Uhlmann, and Marlowe are affiliated with the Gray Center, as members of the Gray Center’s Advisory Council. The papers and video are available online at: https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/congress-and-the-administrative-state-delegation-nondelegation-and-un-delegation/.