Are you signed up for our summit?
We can't wait to see you! Read further for our thoughts on West Virginia v. EPA and the FTC's rulemaking authority, plus a personnel change.
Friends, before I dive into this week’s roundup, I’m sad to share that this TechFreedom Weekly is the last one I’ll be writing, as tomorrow is my final day with TechFreedom. The time I spent here has been an absolute pleasure, and I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to share our updates with you each week. The support I’ve experienced from Berin, Dan, Shane, Corbin, Ari, Jim, Bilal, Andy, Jason, Jared, and Santana made TechFreedom a community to remember. I know I’m leaving this newsletter in good hands!
If you’d like to continue to keep in touch, you can reach me at my personal email, altman.rachel @ gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @MillionthRachel. I’d love to hear from you! You can also catch me at our upcoming Policy Summit, which you can read more about right here:
Upcoming Event. We’re less than two weeks away from TechFreedom's 2022 Policy Summit on July 20 at the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C.! In-person seats are running out fast, so click here now to register to attend in person—or sign up for the livestream. We’ve also updated our list of distinguished panelists and moderators, which you can check out here. Can’t wait to see you there!
Administrative Law. Last week’s landmark Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. EPA continued to make news—and we remained in the thick of it. On Tuesday, Corbin’s deep dive on the decision, “West Virginia v. EPA: Sound and Fury, Signifying What?,” was published at the WLF Legal Pulse. Corbin discussed the justices’ conflicting theories of congressional intent, what the ruling says (and does not say) about the major questions doctrine, how the courts and the administrative state are coping with Congress’s failure to do its job, and more. Promote Corbin’s piece on Twitter here. Also on Tuesday, Protocol quoted several remarks Berin made during our Twitter Spaces event on the ruling. Our Twitter thread on that discussion is here, and Berin’s thread on the decision is here. For more, check out Corbin’s earlier essay in the Legal Pulse, “A Path Forward on Nondelegation,” as well as our Tech Policy Podcast Episode #311: Administrative Law, and Why You Should Care.
FTC. On Tuesday, Berin’s FTC rulemaking panel was quoted by the Disruptive Competition Project. Berin argued that when Congress delegated rulemaking authority to the FTC, “you wind up with the same sort of business uncertainty where every business in America knew that the FTC could come after them for any number of matters. The danger is that the agency could become a super-legislator, and with regulatory capture, impact whatever market they choose in whatever manner they desire.” The conference marked the release of the book Rulemaking Authority of the Federal Trade Commission, for which Berin and Corbin contributed a chapter titled “The Constitutional Revolution That Wasn’t: Why the FTC Isn’t a Second National Legislature” (free preview of the book here). You can find the photos, videos, and transcripts of the event on their website (paywall).
Follow us on Twitter! Corbin @CorbinKBarthold; Bilal @BilalKSayyed; Andy @AndyJungTech; Santana @SantanaBoulton; Jason @JasonKuznicki; Berin @BerinSzoka; Ari @AriCohn.