Government regulations are based on enacted laws, and those laws in turn rest on the limited powers granted to government by the Constitution. Whether these constitutional limits succeed in actually reining in government is one of the basic issues facing our country. This is where CEI’s legal expertise comes in.
Since 1986, CEI has engaged in strategic litigation on regulatory and constitutional issues, in areas ranging from free speech to environmental mandates and health care policy to financial regulation. This includes court challenges to both Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank Act. CEI’s legal team works to defend the Constitution, protect the rule of law, and bring transparency and accountability to the regulatory state.
Law and Litigation Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
The CFPB director’s dominance over adjudication must end
On behalf of CEI, I submitted a new comment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) calling on the Bureau to rescind one…
Blog
Two courts, one message: Tariffs need congressional backing
Within the last few days, two courts have enjoined President Trump’s tariffs under International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) finding them unlawful. First, the US…
Blog
The flaw in Justice Kagan’s defense of the NLRB
Justice Elana Kagan authored a lengthy dissent to the Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday granting the Trump administration’s request to keep the Gwynne Wilcox,…
Studies
Climate Disclosure’s Triple Threat
Introduction Financial regulators from the US federal government, California, and Europe have each recently adopted climate disclosure rules for companies. These environmental, social, and governance…
The Supreme Court’s New New Deal
In the final weeks of its 2024 term, the Supreme Court of the United States issued several opinions that transform the nation’s regulatory climate. The…
Conflict of Justice
Introduction Imagine that a federal agency has charged you with violating a law or regulation, and you have to defend yourself in court. But you…
Blog
SEC commissioners regain subpoena power, potentially curtailing record-level fines
After 16 years, commissioners at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted a rule to regain the authority to launch investigations from the…
CEI primer on agency adjudication
Agency adjudication is the process by which administrative agencies resolve legal disputes that implicate regulatory policies. Agencies render decisions through in-house tribunals commonly known as…
The shadow nonprofit’s push for ESG
Nonprofit interest groups play a significant role in advancing policy change in government. The IRS affords tax exemption to thousands of these groups via their…
News
Trump executive order restores consumer choice for home appliances
In 2018, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) petitioned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to adopt regulations allowing dishwashers that complete a full cycle…
CEI leads coalition letter urging Congress to end Biden rule against tankless water heaters
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute sent a coalition letter to the House of Representatives urging an end to the Biden administration’s crackdown on gas-fired instantaneous…
Executive Order aims to fight overregulation and unlawfulness in federal agencies: CEI analysis
A new Executive Order signed by President Trump entitled “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘DOGE’ Regulatory Initiative,” aims to continue the Department…
Op-Eds
The Daily Economy
DOGE Gets Serious in Its War on the Administrative State
I have argued for over a decade that America has a fourth, largely unaccountable branch of government in the administrative state. My 2012 book, Stealing…
The Daily Economy
Federal Agencies Stack Their Courts Against You
Winning a case against the federal government is difficult. Most federal agencies are well represented by an army of skilled attorneys. The Department of Justice…
The Daily Signal
The Overreaching Power of the Bureaucracy Is Destroying Our Representative Government
The United States is a republic with decision-making power held by elected legislators representing the people. Yet many of the biggest decisions affecting the lives…
Staff & Scholars
Daren Bakst
Director of the Center for Energy and Environment and Senior Fellow
- Energy and Environment
- Lands and Wildlife
- Property Rights
Ondray Harris
General Counsel
- Law and Litigation
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
David S. McFadden
Attorney
- Law and Litigation
- Legal Studies
Devin Watkins
Attorney
- CEI Litigation
- Government Transparency
- Legal Studies