Neomi Rao, the Scholar Who Will Help Lead Trump’s Regulatory Overhaul
“In our constitutional democracy,” she said, “the rule of law should prevail over the rule of what the judge thinks is best.”
In recent years, Ms. Rao’s leadership of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State gave her a particularly
strong voice in the growing conservative movement looking to curb the regulatory powers of federal agencies.
Conservatives say the concern goes well beyond the regulatory offensive of the Obama administration, and follows a series of opinions from conservative members of the Supreme Court, as well as other significant writings — like Philip Hamburger’s book, “Is Administrative Law Unlawful?” —
that raise questions about whether too much power has been given over to federal agencies.
By STEVE EDERJULY 9, 2017
WASHINGTON — When George Mason University changed the name of its law school last year to honor Antonin Scalia,
the late conservative Supreme Court justice, the tribute rankled many liberal faculty members and students.
“Trump has made some big claims about what he will do,
and I think he needs a good lawyer,” said Susan Dudley, who headed the regulatory office under President George W. Bush and now directs the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center.
We just want to impose some rules and order on them.”
Lisa Heinzerling, who served at the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration and spoke on a panel at Ms. Rao’s center this year, said
that the center and others like it “can sound like an echo chamber” in a conservative campaign against government oversight.
