The Supreme Court has enabled a dramatic expansion of executive power during the first nine months of the Trump Administration. Much of this has occurred with minimal or no explanation on the emergency docket, allowing the Administration to proceed without any consideration, much less a determination, of whether the challenged, ongoing activity is lawful. This article in the Yale Law School’s Journal on Regulation blog explains why recent D.C. Circuit panel decisions interpreting Dalton v. Specter, 511 U.S. 462 (1994), represent a new and dangerous take for litigants challenging Executive Branch actions and why the D.C. Circuit should grant en banc review, which they eventually did for one of the cases.
This resource was commissioned by or produced by staff of the Center for Applied Environmental Law and Policy before the organization rebranded as Ridgeline Center for Law and Policy in 2026.