Part One - The Structure of Government · Module 5
The Federal Executive Power: Inherent Presidential Power; The Constitutional Problems of the Administrative State
Youngstown's framework, executive privilege, nondelegation and its revival talk, the major questions doctrine, and the legislative veto.
Topics
Inherent presidential power and the Youngstown framework. Executive privilege. The nondelegation doctrine and its demise. The major questions doctrine. The legislative veto and its demise.
Reading list
0 of 9 readings published · the rest are in preparation and will appear here as they are edited
- Opinion Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer
- Note United States v. Nixon
- Note A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
- Note Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan
- Note Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc.
- Note Gundy v. United States
- Note West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency
- Opinion Biden v. Nebraska
- Opinion Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha
- Current case Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, No. 24-1287 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2026) (consolidated with Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., No. 25-250) (whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes tariffs; Youngstown and the major questions doctrine applied together).
Also assigned
Canvas The Federalist No. 70 (Hamilton), "The Executive Department Further Considered." Hamilton argues that energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government, and that a single executive is more accountable than a plural one because blame cannot be diffused. Both halves of that claim are contested in every case in this Module.
How to read this list
A case named without a marker is assigned as an opinion and is to be read in its entirety. Opinion (edited) means the Professor has cut it for length; the text on this site is the assigned text. Note means the case is not assigned as an opinion at all — its holding, its facts to the extent they matter, and its place in the doctrinal line are given in a note written for this course, and you are responsible for that note exactly as you are responsible for an assigned opinion. Most modules close with a Current case, a recent decision chosen because it shows the doctrine you have just read being applied at its live edge; current cases are assigned as opinions. You are responsible for all assigned required materials, including the notes, questions, problems and commentary that accompany the cases, whether or not we discuss them in class.