Gray Matters

Adam White, Jace Lington, and Bennett Nuss analyze the recent Supreme Court decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook, focusing on the implications for executive power, administrative agency independence, and the future of administrative law.

Adam White in SCOTUSblog

Aditya Bamzai & Aaron Nielson on the Fed and Article II at The Cornell Law Review

Adam White hosts Chief Judge Susan G. Braden (Ret.) to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which held the Federal Trade Commission’s statutory independence unconstitutional and explicitly overruled Humphrey’s Executor. Braden argues the ruling will ripple across administrative law by treating agencies with authority to file lawsuits on behalf of the United States as executive agencies subject to presidential control, and by limiting “independent” agencies to advisory roles.

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Judge Braden's paper on the future of the FTC
Adam White's analysis of Slaughter and Cook in SCOTUSblog

In this first panel from the Gray Center’s May conference, moderator Christopher J. Walker (University of Michigan) speaks with Megan Brown (Wiley Rein LLP), Roman Martinez (Latham & Watkins LLP), and Maria Monaghan (U.S. Chamber Litigation Center) about what courts are doing after Chevron’s overruling in Loper Bright. They discuss unresolved issues now playing out in lower courts, including Skidmore’s role, congressional delegation and “policymaking discretion,” stare decisis for prior Chevron-era precedents, and implications for other deference doctrines like Auer/Kisor.

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In this final panel from the Gray Center’s October conference, moderator Aaron Nielsen (UT Austin) speaks with Judge Naomi Rao (D.C. Circuit) and Judge Steven Menashi (Second Circuit) about their role as judges after Loper Bright ended Chevron deference. Rao and Menashi describe their interpretive approaches—text-first, but attentive to context, structure, statutory purpose, and legal terms of art—and emphasize that interpretation involves judgment. They argueLoper Bright largely restores courts’ independent duty to decide questions of law under the APA, while still allowing agencies discretion where statutes leave open-textured implementation choices or explicit delegations. The panel discusses D.C. Circuit practices, post–Loper Bright arguments about expertise, “express delegation,” Skidmore, forum shopping, major questions doctrine, scientific complexity, and how the debate may shift toward Article I and nondelegation.

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The third panel discussion from the Gray Center’s Fall 2025 conference featuring:
Noah Phillips, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Matt Stoller, American Economic Liberties Project

Moderator:
Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg, D.C. Circuit