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
Durbin-Marshall’s new provisions enable lawfare from state AGs
Even though President Trump unfortunately endorsed earlier this month the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) – a bill that attempts to force down fees that…
Blog
CEI files amicus brief in SCOTUS case to protect homeowners from tax equity theft
On December 8, 2025, CEI filed an amicus brief in the case Michael Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan at the United States Supreme Court. This case…
Blog
The Supreme Court should restore the president’s removal authority
This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of the most consequential administrative law disputes of the century. Trump v. Slaughter…
Studies
Freedom, Broadcasting, and the Public Interest
Introduction The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is invoking the public interest to justify regulatory moves that would, in theory, force television and radio station broadcast…
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…
Blog
Two cheers for ending Humphrey’s Executor
Oral arguments in Trump v. Slaughter begin today. While debates over the legitimacy of presidential removal authority and the degree of Senate involvement…
CFPB breaks its stranglehold over adjudications
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) just announced that it will revise its adjudication rules to ensure greater fairness. Specifically, the CFPB is rescinding…
Exposing America’s hidden judiciary
I have a new paper published with the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), How Interagency Borrowing of Administrative Law Judges Circumvents the Rule of Law.
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
Civitas Institute
The First Amendment Vise
It’s been a rough ride for freedom of speech lately. The reads, “Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of…
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…
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
Marin Murdock
Associate Counsel
- CEI Litigation
- Law and Litigation