DOJ Looking at APA Changes

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The Justice Department is looking into whether the Administrative Procedure Act needs reforming, which would have to come from Congress. 

The APA is basically the Robert Rules of Order for federal agencies, or what DOJ likened to the "fundamental charter" of the administrative state. 

For example, when an FCC decision is challenged in court for being arbitrary and capricious, it is being accused of violating the APA. 

DOJ has scheduled a summit Dec. 6 to look at how the "administrative state" has developed in unforeseen ways and "what the Trump Administration has done to make the administrative state operate more fairly and effectively." 

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.