On October 25, 2019, the Gray Center hosted “The Administration of Immigration.” For this conference, the Gray Center invited scholars to write papers exploring ways to improve our nation’s immigration system, and discuss them alongside other experts in panel sessions addressing such topics as whether immigration law is special, the costs and benefits of immigration, judicial review of the immigration system, and the moral underpinnings of immigration law. The event also featured keynote remarks from James McHenry, Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review at the United States Department of Justice.

In this presentation, McHenry describes the work of the Office of Immigration Review and places it into the context of the broader discussions we had on immigration law and policy. The video is available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-immigration/.

On October 25, 2019, the Gray Center hosted “The Administration of Immigration.” For this conference, the Gray Center invited scholars to write papers exploring ways to improve our nation’s immigration system, and discuss them alongside other experts in panel sessions addressing such topics as whether immigration law is special, the costs and benefits of immigration, judicial review of the immigration system, and the moral underpinnings of immigration law. The event also featured keynote remarks from James McHenry, Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review at the United States Department of Justice.

The second panel looked at national security, special courts, and whether immigration law is special. The discussion revolved around a new working paper on “The Forgotten FISA Court: Exploring the Inactivity of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court” by panelist Aram Gavoor (co-authored by Timothy Belsan). The panel was moderated by Jesse Panuccio, who is affiliated with the Gray Center as a Public Service Fellow. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-immigration/.

On October 25, 2019, the Gray Center hosted “The Administration of Immigration.” For this conference, the Gray Center invited scholars to write papers exploring ways to improve our nation’s immigration system, and discuss them alongside other experts in panel sessions addressing such topics as whether immigration law is special, the costs and benefits of immigration, judicial review of the immigration system, and the moral underpinnings of immigration law. The event also featured keynote remarks from James McHenry, Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review at the United States Department of Justice.

The first panel looked at moral underpinnings of immigration law. It featured a discussion about three new working papers, one by Craig S. Lerner on “Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude”: The Puzzling and Persistent (and Constitutional) Immigration Law Doctrine,” one by William W. Chip on “E-Verify: Mining Government Databases to Deter Employment of Unauthorized Aliens,” and a paper by Cassandra Burke Robertson on “Litigating Citizenship” (co-authored by Irina Manta). The panel was moderated by the Gray Center’s then-Deputy Director, Andrew Kloster. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-immigration/.

On October 4, 2019, the Gray Center co-hosted “The Administration of Democracy⏤The George Mason Law Review’s Second Annual Symposium on Administrative Law.” For the second annual symposium, scholars wrote papers on such fundamental questions as: Is nonpartisan campaign-finance regulation possible? Who should draw electoral maps—and how? How can we best protect voting rights? How should the census be administered? How do we preserve the regulatory process’s democratic legitimacy? And, are members of Congress entitled to see the President’s tax returns? These papers are forthcoming in the George Mason Law Review. In addition, the event featured a Keynote Conversation with two former public servants with deep expertise in both governance and campaigns: Robert Bauer, former White House Counsel to President Obama, and Donald McGahn, former White House Counsel to President Trump.

The fifth panel looked at the IRS, Congress, and the President’s tax returns, featuring a discussion of a paper titled “The President’s Tax Returns” by the University of Iowa Law School’s Professor Andy Grewal. The panel was moderated by the Gray Center’s Executive Director, Adam White. The video is available at http://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-democracy-the-george-mason-law-reviews-second-annual-symposium-on-administrative-law/.

On October 4, 2019, the Gray Center co-hosted “The Administration of Democracy⏤The George Mason Law Review’s Second Annual Symposium on Administrative Law.” For the second annual symposium, scholars wrote papers on such fundamental questions as: Is nonpartisan campaign-finance regulation possible? Who should draw electoral maps—and how? How can we best protect voting rights? How should the census be administered? How do we preserve the regulatory process’s democratic legitimacy? And, are members of Congress entitled to see the President’s tax returns? These papers are forthcoming in the George Mason Law Review. In addition, the event featured a Keynote Conversation with two former public servants with deep expertise in both governance and campaigns: Robert Bauer, former White House Counsel to President Obama, and Donald McGahn, former White House Counsel to President Trump.

The fourth panel focused on the democracy of administration. Speakers discussed a paper by the University of Louisville’s Professor Russell L. Weaver, titled “Rulemaking in an Internet Era: Dealing with Bots, Trolls & ‘Form Letters.’” The panel was moderated by Antonin Scalia Law School Professor and Gray Center Affiliated Faculty Member, Carolina Cecot, and introduced by Gray Center Executive Director, Adam White. The video is available at http://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-democracy-the-george-mason-law-reviews-second-annual-symposium-on-administrative-law/.

On October 4, 2019, the Gray Center co-hosted “The Administration of Democracy⏤The George Mason Law Review’s Second Annual Symposium on Administrative Law.” For the second annual symposium, scholars wrote papers on such fundamental questions as: Is nonpartisan campaign-finance regulation possible? Who should draw electoral maps—and how? How can we best protect voting rights? How should the census be administered? How do we preserve the regulatory process’s democratic legitimacy? And, are members of Congress entitled to see the President’s tax returns? These papers are forthcoming in the George Mason Law Review. In addition, the event featured a Keynote Conversation with two former public servants with deep expertise in both governance and campaigns: Robert Bauer, former White House Counsel to President Obama, and Donald McGahn, former White House Counsel to President Trump.

The third panel looked at the administration of the census, centering on a paper titled, “Motive and Opportunity: Courts’ Intrusions into Discretionary Decisions of Other Branches—A Comment on Department of Commerce v. New York” by Ron Cass, President of Cass & Associates, and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gray Center. The panel was moderated by Conor Woodfin, Editor-In-Chief of the George Mason Law Review, and introduced by the Gray Center’s Executive Director, Adam White. The video is available at http://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-administration-of-democracy-the-george-mason-law-reviews-second-annual-symposium-on-administrative-law/.

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 September 13, the Gray Center hosted a conference on The Future of White House Regulatory Oversight and Cost-Benefit Analysis. At the conference, a number of scholars presented new research on cost-benefit analysis and the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or “OIRA.” All of the papers are available on the Gray Center’s web site. And the conference was keynoted by the White House’s Acting Administration of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Paul Ray.

Our closing panel was focused on improving agency cost-benefit analyses. We discussed three new papers: Caroline Cecot and Robert Hahn’s paper on “Transparency in Agency Cost-Benefit Analysis”; Jerry Ellig and Richard Williams’s “David Versus Godzilla: Bigger Stones”; and William Yeatman’s paper, “Why Two Congressional OIRA Are Better Than One.” In the discussion, Cecot, Williams, and Yeatman were joined by Connor Raso. The discussion was moderated by the Gray Center’s Director, Adam White. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-future-of-white-house-regulatory-oversight-and-cost-benefit-analysis/.

On September 13, the Gray Center hosted a conference on The Future of White House Regulatory Oversight and Cost-Benefit Analysis. At the conference, a number of scholars presented new research on cost-benefit analysis and the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or “OIRA.” All of the papers are available on the Gray Center’s web site. And the conference was keynoted by the White House’s Acting Administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Paul Ray.

Our third panel focused on the use of “regulatory budgets” in White House regulatory oversight. For decades, scholars have debated whether agencies should be bound by “regulatory budgets”; in 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13771, placing a kind of regulatory budget on executive agencies. At our conference, Jim Tozzi presented a new paper on OIRA and regulatory budgets. He was joined in the discussion by former OIRA Administrator Chris DeMuth and Professor Richard Pierce, and also by Anthony Campau, who served OIRA under Administrator Neomi Rao, and helped with the initial implementation of EO 13771. The discussion was moderated by the Gray Center’s Deputy Director, Andrew Kloster. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-future-of-white-house-regulatory-oversight-and-cost-benefit-analysis/.

On September 13, the Gray Center hosted a conference on The Future of White House Regulatory Oversight and Cost-Benefit Analysis. At the conference, a number of scholars presented new research on cost-benefit analysis and the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or “OIRA.” All of the papers are available on the Gray Center’s web site. And the conference was keynoted by the White House’s Acting Administration of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Paul Ray.

Our second panel focused on the place of cost-benefit analysis in judicial review of agency action. We discussed two new papers: “Codifying the Cost-Benefit State,” by Brian Mannix and Bridget Dooling; and “The Ascendancy of the Cost-Benefit State,” by Paul Noe. In the discussion, Dooling and Noe were joined by Professor Bill Buzbee and former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray. The discussion was moderated by Professor Kristin Hickman. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-future-of-white-house-regulatory-oversight-and-cost-benefit-analysis/.

On September 13, the Gray Center hosted a conference on The Future of White House Regulatory Oversight and Cost-Benefit Analysis. At the conference, a number of scholars presented new research on cost-benefit analysis and the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or “OIRA.” All of the papers are available on the Gray Center’s web site. And the conference was keynoted by the White House’s Acting Administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Paul Ray.

Our first panel focused on OIRA. We discussed two new papers: Former OIRA Administrator Susan Dudley’s paper, titled “OIRA Past and Present,” and a paper by Rutgers University Professor Stuart Shapiro, titled “OIRA’s Dual Role and the Future of Cost Benefit Analysis.” They were joined in the discussion by two former OIRA Administrators: the Hudson Institute’s Chris DeMuth, and NYU’s Sally Katzen. Both DeMuth and Katzen are affiliated with the Gray Center, as Distinguished Senior Fellows. The discussion was moderated by the Gray Center’s Director, Adam White. The papers and video are available at https://administrativestate.gmu.edu/events/the-future-of-white-house-regulatory-oversight-and-cost-benefit-analysis/.

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Administrative State, at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, supports research and debate on the modern administrative state, and the constitutional issues surrounding it. In this podcast, we’ll discuss some of the questions being debated around modern administration — some new questions, some timeless ones. And you can also get the audio from Gray Center events