The Eighth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference was held on April 28, 2020 via an online webinar. The first panel was titled "Restoring the Executive Power: Revisiting Humphrey's Executor, Reviving the Unitary Executive."
In public discourse, the visibility and prominence of the presidency has flourished in recent decades in America. However, while the visibility of the presidency has increased, some worry that the actual power and influence of the presidency gradually has been surrendered to much less visible levers of governmental power. The ever-increasing power of the administrative state and the influence of independent agencies has caused many legal experts and policy makers to question whether the presidency has retained all the powers of the executive branch the founding fathers intended. The President surely exercises some control over significant agency heads, but has Presidential control over the agencies themselves weakened? Is the President’s control over independent agencies too attenuated? Proponents of greater executive power argue that the administrative state has grown so large it can stymie a newly elected president’s agenda, which leads to a less democratic form of government. In light of these concerns, should the Supreme Court revisit Humphrey's Executor, and give the President more control over federal agencies? As a practical matter, if agency power is reduced, what ought to fill the void of policy-making and enforcement?
Our distinguished panel of experts will attempt to answer that question, and will delve into multiple sides of this controversial and complex debate.
Featuring:

Hon. W. Neil Eggleston, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and former White House Counsel
Hon. Steven A. Engel, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, United States Department of Justice
Mr. Jesse Panuccio, Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, and former Acting Associate Attorney General, United States Department of Justice
Moderator: Dean Reuter, General Counsel | Vice President & Director, Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.