Kati Kovacs
@ksquare90.bsky.social
Law professor at Rutgers, #adlaw and natural resources law nerd, former DOJ lawyer and Interior Department appointee
https://law.rutgers.edu/bio/kek130
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1530934
https://law.rutgers.edu/bio/kek130
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1530934
Pinned
Kati Kovacs
@ksquare90.bsky.social
· Jan 21
What a privilege and a pleasure it was to serve on Secretary @debhaalandnm.bsky.social's team at the Department of the Interior! I'm excited to bring my experience as a bureaucratic plumber back to @rutgerslaw.bsky.social and the #adlaw community.
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
A few thoughts on the provision in the big beautiful bill that purports to limit courts' enforcement of contempt citations:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
Republican Bill Would Limit Judges’ Contempt Power
www.nytimes.com
May 25, 2025 at 5:29 PM
A few thoughts on the provision in the big beautiful bill that purports to limit courts' enforcement of contempt citations:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
"The Supreme Court, by contrast, has undermined lower courts seeking to protect the rule of law and emboldened an administration eager to trample it." @kateshaw.bsky.social
I’ve got a piece in the @nytimes.com this morning on the Supreme Court’s quiet but radical shadow-docket order last week handing Trump yet another tool to eliminate independent expertise & authority and consolidate presidential control over the executive branch
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/o...
Opinion | Why Is This Supreme Court Handing Trump More and More Power?
www.nytimes.com
May 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM
"The Supreme Court, by contrast, has undermined lower courts seeking to protect the rule of law and emboldened an administration eager to trample it." @kateshaw.bsky.social
"Under Trump, presidential subordinates implementing the President’s directions wrt law execution are just as absolutely immune as he is. And the immunity applies to any congressional or judicial attempt to constrain the President’s conclusive and preclusive power." @twmorrison.bsky.social
All the President's Men
The presidency of the United States is an immensely consequential role. It is also just immense. As the Supreme Court has explained, “Because no single person c
papers.ssrn.com
May 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
"Under Trump, presidential subordinates implementing the President’s directions wrt law execution are just as absolutely immune as he is. And the immunity applies to any congressional or judicial attempt to constrain the President’s conclusive and preclusive power." @twmorrison.bsky.social
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
Trump has spattered the WH website with anti-environmental executive orders. They range from the inane (fighting to save paper straws and wasteful showerheads) to the destructive (saving obsolete coal plants and stopping wind turbines). Here's the list.
legal-planet.org?p=43125
legal-planet.org?p=43125
legal-planet.org
May 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Trump has spattered the WH website with anti-environmental executive orders. They range from the inane (fighting to save paper straws and wasteful showerheads) to the destructive (saving obsolete coal plants and stopping wind turbines). Here's the list.
legal-planet.org?p=43125
legal-planet.org?p=43125
"In Ohio v. EPA, the Court faulted the agency for not adequately grappling, at the time of rulemaking, with at least some subset of the millions of alternate futures that judicial intervention could create." @jacklienke.bsky.social "explores its troubling implications for future rulemaking."
Every Court Everywhere All at Once: <i>Ohio v. EPA</i> and the Litigation Multiverse
Agencies issuing rules have always faced the risk of getting sued. But they have not traditionally faced the risk of getting sued for failing to discuss their r
papers.ssrn.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:44 PM
"In Ohio v. EPA, the Court faulted the agency for not adequately grappling, at the time of rulemaking, with at least some subset of the millions of alternate futures that judicial intervention could create." @jacklienke.bsky.social "explores its troubling implications for future rulemaking."
"Drawing on the Australian model, this article emphasizes the advantages of a systematic, bipartisan, and principles-based approach [to legislative review of rules] over the current ad hoc, partisan, and policy-driven approach in the United States." Lorne Neudorf
Learning from Australia: Strengthening Congressional Scrutiny of Federal Agency Rulemaking
This article considers insights from the Australian Parliament’s Senate standing committee that systematically scrutinizes new agency rules under established sc
papers.ssrn.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
"Drawing on the Australian model, this article emphasizes the advantages of a systematic, bipartisan, and principles-based approach [to legislative review of rules] over the current ad hoc, partisan, and policy-driven approach in the United States." Lorne Neudorf
"Subordinating the President to law means subordinating the President to Congress, and this is what a genuine respect for the separation of powers would require." @dfroomkin.bsky.social
Presidency Exceptionalism
Trump v. United States, which declared the President to be immune from prosecution for any act performed in the course of exercising their “exclusive” constitut
papers.ssrn.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"Subordinating the President to law means subordinating the President to Congress, and this is what a genuine respect for the separation of powers would require." @dfroomkin.bsky.social
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
My 2024 Const Day remarks on US v. Skrmetti's implications for wider EP doctrine are now on SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=526.... The major takeaway: each of the ways the S Ct could rule *against* heightened scrutiny for trans ppl wd require doing damage to one of the core principles of modern EP doctrine
Transgender Equality: An Inflection Point for Equal Protection?
<div>
This Term, the Supreme Court is hearing its first case addressing the Equal Protection rights of the transgender community, <i>United States v. Skrmetti<
papers.ssrn.com
May 21, 2025 at 12:56 PM
My 2024 Const Day remarks on US v. Skrmetti's implications for wider EP doctrine are now on SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=526.... The major takeaway: each of the ways the S Ct could rule *against* heightened scrutiny for trans ppl wd require doing damage to one of the core principles of modern EP doctrine
"Presidential administration is now facing a moment of reckoning. While we do still live in the age of presidential administration, how long the age might last and what political possibilities it promises are open to question." AhMenblum @narosenblum.bsky.social
Wait a Second - Who Put The President in Charge of Everything? - Administrative Law
Ashraf Ahmed, Lev Menand, & Noah A. Rosenblum, The Making of Presidential Administration, 137 Harv. L. Rev. 2131 (2024).Richard MurphyNinety years ago, a unanimous Supreme Court thought it obvious tha...
adlaw.jotwell.com
May 16, 2025 at 5:43 PM
"Presidential administration is now facing a moment of reckoning. While we do still live in the age of presidential administration, how long the age might last and what political possibilities it promises are open to question." AhMenblum @narosenblum.bsky.social
Michael Asimow "proposes a set of best practices for conducting and improving informal adjudication"
The Last Frontier: Fair Procedure in Informal Administrative Adjudication
<p><span>The federal government engages in massive amounts of informal adjudication. Informal adjudication means a process that resolves a dispute between
papers.ssrn.com
May 16, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Michael Asimow "proposes a set of best practices for conducting and improving informal adjudication"
"Loper Bright’s promise of independent judicial interpretation of statutes could better police the implementation of immigration law if courts take humanitarian concerns into account when exercising their independent judgment about the meaning of immigration statutes." @jillfamily.bsky.social
Immigration Law after Chevron’s Demise
The Supreme Court held in Loper Bright v. Raimondo that the Administrative Procedure Act does not require federal courts to defer to reasonable agency interpret
papers.ssrn.com
May 16, 2025 at 3:48 PM
"Loper Bright’s promise of independent judicial interpretation of statutes could better police the implementation of immigration law if courts take humanitarian concerns into account when exercising their independent judgment about the meaning of immigration statutes." @jillfamily.bsky.social
@awidman.bsky.social's empirical study on "the various regulatory structures governing nonlawyers" representation in agency adjudication.
Representation, Calibrated
More people interact with administrative adjudications than with courts, and the lack of lawyers to assist people in these proceedings remains at crisis levels.
papers.ssrn.com
May 16, 2025 at 3:44 PM
@awidman.bsky.social's empirical study on "the various regulatory structures governing nonlawyers" representation in agency adjudication.
@gillianmetzger.bsky.social on change in administrative law.
Administrative Law and the Pandemic
American administrative law's relationship to change is, as they say, complicated. On the one hand, continual evolution has been an endemic feature of American
papers.ssrn.com
May 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
@gillianmetzger.bsky.social on change in administrative law.
Thank goodness we've finally resolved that.
Mystery of Orange Cats Finally Solved—They're Mutants
Your orange cat may host a never-before-seen genetic pathway for color pigmentation, according to new studies
www.scientificamerican.com
May 16, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Thank goodness we've finally resolved that.
"Legalistic noncompliance occurs when the administration uses the language of the law as cover to claim that it is complying with court orders when in fact it is not." @dtdeacon.bsky.social @leahlitman.bsky.social
Thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for highly recommending “Legalistic Noncompliance” by me and @leahlitman.bsky.social! lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/...
Deacon & Litman on Legalistic Executive Noncompliance with Judicial Orders
Daniel Deacon (University of Michigan Law School) & Leah Litman (University of Michigan Law School) have posted Legalistic Noncompliance on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Will the executive branch comply...
lsolum.typepad.com
May 15, 2025 at 9:11 PM
"Legalistic noncompliance occurs when the administration uses the language of the law as cover to claim that it is complying with court orders when in fact it is not." @dtdeacon.bsky.social @leahlitman.bsky.social
"private enforcement does not violate Article II, except when it amounts to a criminal prosecution, enforces governmental property interests, or crowds the executive out from enforcement entirely—and even then, only under narrow conditions" Nitisha Baronia, Jared Lucky, Diego Zambrano
May 15, 2025 at 9:05 PM
"private enforcement does not violate Article II, except when it amounts to a criminal prosecution, enforces governmental property interests, or crowds the executive out from enforcement entirely—and even then, only under narrow conditions" Nitisha Baronia, Jared Lucky, Diego Zambrano
Grading done!
kermit the frog is standing in front of a red curtain and saying yaaaa
ALT: kermit the frog is standing in front of a red curtain and saying yaaaa
media.tenor.com
May 15, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Grading done!
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
Law students and recent grads! Thinking about clerking? Don’t overlook state courts. State Court Report has a new resource w/ info and deadlines for 95 state supreme court justices. Check it out! @statecourtreport.bsky.social
statecourtreport.org/state-judici...
statecourtreport.org/state-judici...
State Judicial Clerkship Resource
statecourtreport.org
May 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Law students and recent grads! Thinking about clerking? Don’t overlook state courts. State Court Report has a new resource w/ info and deadlines for 95 state supreme court justices. Check it out! @statecourtreport.bsky.social
statecourtreport.org/state-judici...
statecourtreport.org/state-judici...
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
Hey, speaking of the importance of public utility regulators: here's a jobs board showing all the PUC positions open across the country. There's no better place to leverage positive change. We badly need good people in these spots! Tell your energy nerd friends to apply!
We’re proud to announce @powerlines.org’s PUC Jobs Board to connect energy professionals with state public utilities commissions (PUCs). We need talented, passionate, thoughtful, motivated, selfless people in the bodies that oversee $200B in utility spending each year! powerlines.org/powerlines-l...
May 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Hey, speaking of the importance of public utility regulators: here's a jobs board showing all the PUC positions open across the country. There's no better place to leverage positive change. We badly need good people in these spots! Tell your energy nerd friends to apply!
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
Bizarrely, the Trump Administration is trying to roll back energy-saving rules at the VERY SAME TIME that they're claiming we're in a dire energy emergency without enough power to meet surging demand. Not to mention that the rollback is illegal.
legal-planet.org/2025/05/14/n...
legal-planet.org/2025/05/14/n...
No, DOE, You Can't Roll Back Product Efficiency Standards - Legal Planet
Trump says the grid is desperately struggling --a strange time to eliminate energy-saving regulations. DOE’s effort to roll back product efficiency standards is also illegal.
legal-planet.org
May 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Bizarrely, the Trump Administration is trying to roll back energy-saving rules at the VERY SAME TIME that they're claiming we're in a dire energy emergency without enough power to meet surging demand. Not to mention that the rollback is illegal.
legal-planet.org/2025/05/14/n...
legal-planet.org/2025/05/14/n...
"courts in the United States are comparatively less likely to be captured than those of many other countries and more able to resist an authoritarian populist regime, but also somewhat more likely to facilitate democratic backsliding on their own account." Stephen Gardbaum
Gardbaum on Courts and Democratic Backsliding, buff.ly/VNzJa4W - Stephen Gardbaum (University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law) has posted Courts and Democratic Backsliding: A Comparative Perspective on the United States (46 Law & Policy 349 (2024)) on SSRN.
buff.ly
May 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"courts in the United States are comparatively less likely to be captured than those of many other countries and more able to resist an authoritarian populist regime, but also somewhat more likely to facilitate democratic backsliding on their own account." Stephen Gardbaum
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
Flying duck caught in Swiss speed trap believed to be repeat offender
Flying duck caught in Swiss speed trap believed to be repeat offender
Image shows mallard snapped at 52km/h in same 30km/h zone as a duck on the same day seven years ago
A radar image of a speed offender caught in central Switzerland last month has revealed that the culprit was not only a duck but probably a repeat offender, local authorities have said.
Police in the town of Köniz, near the capital, Bern, were astounded when they went through radar images snapped on 13 April to discover that a mallard was among those caught in the speed trap, the municipality said on its Facebook page at the weekend. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
May 13, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Flying duck caught in Swiss speed trap believed to be repeat offender
Reposted by Kati Kovacs
Today, House Republicans are unveiling their plan to increase energy bills and pollution for everyday Americans, just to give billionaires another tax break. A summary of their proposals. THREAD! 🧵
May 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Today, House Republicans are unveiling their plan to increase energy bills and pollution for everyday Americans, just to give billionaires another tax break. A summary of their proposals. THREAD! 🧵