Trump’s Quiet Power Grab
Share
[aggregation-styles]
The Atlantic Subscription
Throughout the federal government are thousands of officials who do not direct courtrooms, but who are, in a sense, judges. They are federal employees who preside over trial-like disputes, hear evidence and testimony, and make decisions that can deeply shape people’s lives, such as the granting of asylum and veterans benefits.
These executive-branch employees are administrative adjudicators.
The Trump administration has launched an obscure but dangerous effort to undermine this system, and to dictate both the appropriate circumstances for commencing adjudication and the rules that govern how disputes with agencies are resolved.
If the Trump administration’s strategy works, it will have steered the federal bureaucracy further toward an authoritarian future in which all executive-branch policy making must bend to the whims of a single individual, the president.
Although precise data are hard to find, recent work by two leading administrative-law scholars suggests there are roughly 12,000 of these agency adjudicators of various types across the federal bureaucracy, as compared with about 870 permanently authorized federal-court judges.
Read More →
The Atlantic Subscription
Throughout the federal government are thousands of officials who do not direct courtrooms, but who are, in a sense, judges. They are federal employees who preside over trial-like disputes, hear evidence and testimony, and make decisions that can deeply shape people’s lives, such as the granting of asylum and veterans benefits.
These executive-branch employees are administrative adjudicators.
The Trump administration has launched an obscure but dangerous effort to undermine this system, and to dictate both the appropriate circumstances for commencing adjudication and the rules that govern how disputes with agencies are resolved.
If the Trump administration’s strategy works, it will have steered the federal bureaucracy further toward an authoritarian future in which all executive-branch policy making must bend to the whims of a single individual, the president.
Although precise data are hard to find, recent work by two leading administrative-law scholars suggests there are roughly 12,000 of these agency adjudicators of various types across the federal bureaucracy, as compared with about 870 permanently authorized federal-court judges.
Read More →
By Peter M. Shane | 26 Feb 2020
RELATED TOPICS:
Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk
Politics /
22 hours ago
How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles
Crime /
1 day ago
Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike
World /
1 day ago
Visalia Rawhide and City Agree on Terms to Upgrade Stadium
Sports /
1 day ago
Latest
Videos
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/16183042/Eagles-vs-49ers.jpg)
Sports /
9 hours ago
Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins
![A black poodle's face with his tongue sticking out](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/29135336/Rescued-from-an-abandoned-home-after-weeks-of-fending-for-himself-Adam-a-shy-but-sweet-poodle-mix-is-now-seeking-a-loving-forever-home.-Mells-Mutts-1024x538.jpg)
Animals /
10 hours ago
Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/30180712/AP24242759968532-1024x576.jpg)
Politics /
22 hours ago
Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/30151423/shutterstock_1654933633-copy-1024x576.jpg)
Crime /
1 day ago
How a Real Estate Boom Drove Political Corruption in Los Angeles
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/28091346/082824-Lede-1024x576.jpg)
Housing /
3 days ago