Welcome to the Wednesday, January 8, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Take our newest Learning Journey on executive control
2. Filing deadline roundup
3. Federal Register exceeds 70,000 pages in 2019

Take our newest Learning Journey on executive control

We’re excited to announce another in our series of Learning Journeys, and this one is about executive control in the administrative state.

Executive control of administrative agencies is one of our five thematic pillars supporting a thorough understanding of the administrative state. This Learning Journey guides you through the current state of executive control, the various mechanisms by which it is exercised, and the leading arguments in the debate over the appropriate degree of presidential control over executive agencies.

If you’ve never taken a Learning Journey, it works like this. Each day, we’ll send you an email with information, examples, and exercises to help you understand the concept. Along the way, you’ll be able to contact us with any questions and comments you may have.

The administrative state is a term used to describe how federal government agencies create and enforce their own rules outside of the traditional political process. There are five pillars key to understanding the main areas of debate about the nature and scope of administrative agency action—nondelegation, judicial deference, executive control of agencies, procedural rights, and agency dynamics.

I want to learn more about this topic, so I’m signing up to take this Learning Journey today! Especially since it fits in with my New Year’s resolution to learn new things in 2020. I’d love to have you join me and deepen your understanding of executive control.

Sign up by clicking the link below!

Learn more

       

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Filing deadline roundup

Candidate filing periods passed in seven states—Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas—in 2019. That leaves 43 states remaining, so we’ve only just begun the long march through the 2020 filing deadline cycle. Each week, I’ll keep you updated on what deadlines have passed and what is coming ahead. The last 2020 filing deadline is over six months away—on July 17—so, join me on this adventure!

Here are updates from the states with filing deadlines this week:

Kentucky

The candidate filing period in Kentucky ends on Friday—Jan. 10. The offices up for election include the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Mitch McConnell (R), all six U.S. House districts, 19 of 38 state Senate seats, all 100 state House districts, and one seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court. Friday is also the deadline for Democratic presidential candidates to file to run in the state.

Kentucky’s primaries will take place May 19. The filing deadline for independent candidates is June 2. Kentucky held elections for governor and lieutenant governor, five other state executive officers, and special elections for judgeships on the state Supreme Court and Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2019. Kentucky is currently under divided government as Gov. Andy Beshear (D) was elected last year, and Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature.

Mississippi

Mississippi’s candidate filing period also ends on Friday, although presidential candidates have until next Wednesday—Jan. 15—to file for the state’s presidential primary. The offices up for election are the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Cindy Hyde-Smith (R), all four U.S. House districts, and four of nine judgeships on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Mississippi held elections for governor, state executive officers, and both houses of the state legislature in 2019.

Mississippi’s primaries will take place March 10. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary, a runoff election between the top two finishers will be held March 31.

Click the link below to see a full list of 2020 candidate filing deadlines and primary elections.

Federal Register exceeds 70,000 pages in 2019

I periodically provide updates in this newsletter about the status and size of the Federal Register. The end of the year brings the opportunity to provide the annual breakdown. The Trump administration added a total of 72,564 pages to the Federal Register in 2019—its highest annual page total to date. The Trump administration added a total of 68,082 pages to the Federal Register in 2018 and 61,950 pages in 2017.

The 2019, 2018, and 2017 page totals rank as the three lowest page totals since 2001 when the Federal Register reached 64,438 pages. According to government data, the Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.

The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory execution. The 2019 page total will likely decrease after the National Archives finalizes its publication.

The 2019 Federal Register included the following 27,167 documents:

• 21,804 notices
• 268 presidential documents
• 2,105 proposed rules
• 2,964 final rules

The number of final rules issued—2,964—was the fewest number of the Trump administration so far. The number of final rules in 2017, 2018, and 2019 rank as the lowest final rule counts since the 1970’s.

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviewed 475 significant regulatory actions issued by federal agencies in 2019. The agency reviewed 355 significant rules in 2018 and 237 in 2017. As of January 3, 2020, OIRA’s website listed 132 regulatory actions under review.

OIRA is responsible for reviewing and coordinating what it deems to be all significant regulatory actions made by federal agencies, with the exception of independent federal agencies. Significant regulatory actions include agency rules that have had or may have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state and local governments and communities. These regulatory actions may also conflict with other regulations or with the priorities of the president.

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