The Constitution’s First Branch⏤Rediscovering the Legislative Power

May 2, 2019

Congress is the Constitution’s first branch of our government, but Congress no longer plays the lead role in formulating federal law and policy. How has Congress’s role in governance changed in recent decades? Why has it changed? And what can be done to restore Congress to its proper place at the center of our constitutional system?

On May 2, the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State hosted a conference at the Hart Senate Office Building to discuss these questions, with an array of expert scholars and practitioners.

Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 am – Registration and Breakfast

9:00 – 10:25 am – Panel 1: The Constitution’s First Branch: Rediscovering the Legislative Power – Click here to watch the video of the full panel!

Jonathan H. Adler, Director, Center for Business Law and Regulation and Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Sarah A. Binder, Professor of Political Science, George Washington University, and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings Institution  
Christopher J. Walker, Associate Professor of Law, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University; and Director, The Moritz Washington, D.C. Summer Program
Philip A. Wallach, Senior Fellow, R Street Institute

Moderator: Adam White, Executive Director, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University 

10:25 – 10:40 am – Break 

10:40 – 11:55 am – Panel 2: How Does Central Party Control in Congress Affect the Legislative Process? – Click here to watch the video of the full panel!

Christopher J. Barkley, Policy Director, Senator Mitt Romney
Frances E. Lee, Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland
James I. Wallner, Senior Fellow, R Street Institute

Moderator: Andrew Kloster, Deputy Director, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State

11:55 am – 12:15 pm – Lunch

12:15 – 1:30 pm – Panel 3: Rediscovering Congress’s Institutional “Ambition” – Click here to watch the video of the full panel!

Christopher DeMuth, Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute
Yuval Levin, Editor, National Affairs; and Hertog Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Matthew Spalding, Associate Vice President and Dean of Educational Programs, Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship, Hillsdale College

Moderator: Adam White, Executive Director, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

1:30 pm – Adjourn

Presented Research Paper

Delegation and Time
Jonathan H. Adler, Director, Center for Business Law and Regulation and Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law; and Christopher J. Walker, Associate Professor of Law, The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, and Director, The Moritz Washington, D.C. Summer Program