Administrative Conference of the United States

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Administrative Conference of the United States
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Basic facts
Location:Washington, D.C.
Type:Independent federal agency
Year founded:1964
Website:Official website

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent federal agency tasked with developing recommendations to improve federal administrative processes. ACUS forms recommendations based on research and advice from government officials and nonpartisan individuals whom the agency considers to be experts in the private sector or academia. ACUS recommendations focus on organizational and procedural administrative reforms rather than substantive policy issues.[1]

Mission

According to the agency's website, ACUS has the following mission statement:

“ The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent federal agency in the executive branch charged with identifying and promoting improvements in the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness of the procedures by which federal agencies conduct regulatory programs, administer grants and benefits, protect the public interest, and perform other essential governmental functions.[1][2] ”

Background

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The Administrative Conference of the United States originated as a temporary advisory body under the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. The group was later codified under the Administrative Conference Act of 1964 and formally established in 1968. ACUS aims to bring together federal administration officials and individuals whom the agency considers to be experts from the private sector or academia in order to form recommendations to improve federal administrative processes.[3]

ACUS adopted approximately 200 recommendations between 1968 and 1995. On their own, these recommendations are not legally binding on government agencies or officials. However, according to the ACUS website, "Congress enacted a number of them into law, and agencies and courts have adopted or relied upon many others." In 1995, Congress defunded ACUS but did not repeal its organic statute, a law that creates an agency and defines its original powers and responsibilities. Congress reauthorized funding for ACUS in 2004 and expanded the agency's mandate. Congress extended the reauthorization in 2008, approved funding again in 2009, and officially reestablished the agency in March 2010.[3][4]

Assembly

ACUS Assembly is made up of the full ACUS membership, which consists of 101 statutory voting members. Assembly members include the chairman, members of the ACUS Council, 50 members representing federal agencies, boards, or commissions, and 40 members of the public. The members of the assembly convene during the agency's plenary sessions (conferences that all members are invited to attend).[5][6]

Work

Recommendations

The Administrative Conference of the United States oversees research projects in order to form recommendations aimed at improving federal administrative processes. ACUS may rely on internal staff or contract with external consultants to conduct research. The agency's committees review research under their purview and make recommendations to the ACUS Council, which later brings approved proposals before the assembly for consideration by the full membership during the agency's biannual plenary sessions. If a proposed recommendation is approved by the full membership, the proposal becomes a formal ACUS recommendation.[7]

ACUS recommendations may be addressed to particular departments and agencies, the executive branch in general, Congress, the president, or the judiciary. In some cases, ACUS recommendations have been adopted as policy by federal agencies or enacted into law by Congress. For instance, in 1990, Congress passed the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, both of which were based on policies developed by ACUS and published in a series of recommendations. The agency's recommendations on negotiated rulemaking suggested methods for agencies to develop and build consensus on proposed rules with the help of affected parties and other stakeholders prior to beginning the informal rulemaking. Its recommendations on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures were aimed at minimizing delays and costs associated with agency litigation.[3][4][8]

In the late 1980s, based on ACUS recommendations, both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) began to experiment with ADR methods to arbitrate particular claims and cases. At a congressional hearing in 1989, EPA and DOJ officials testified in support of expanding the use of ADR procedures in the federal government.[9][10]

ACUS also responds to specific research and recommendation requests from federal agencies. For example, on January 11, 2018, the Social Security Advisory Board released a report recommending improvements to the representative payee program managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The report was based on a 2014 ACUS study on state guardianship laws and court practices carried out at the SSA's request.[11]

Committees

ACUS members serve on one of the following committees:[12]

  • Committee on Adjudication
  • Committee on Administration and Management
  • Committee on Judicial Review
  • Committee on Regulation
  • Committee on Rulemaking
  • Committee on Collaborative Governance (disbanded in 2016)

Leadership

The following individual held a leadership position with ACUS as of February 2024:[13][14]

  • Andrew Fois, Chairman

ACUS Council

The ACUS Council consists of up to 10 members appointed to three-year terms by the president. Members include both government employees and private citizens. No more than half of the total number of council members can be federal government officials. According to the ACUS website, "The Council’s functions are to call plenary sessions of the Conference, propose bylaws and regulations for adoption by the Assembly, review budgetary proposals, and approve the appointment of public members and the conduct of research studies."[15]

The following individuals were listed on the agency's website as members of the ACUS Council as of February 2024:[14]

  • Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo, Head of Compliance, Palantir Technologies
  • Shakuntla L. Bhaya, Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz & Bhaya
  • Ronald A. Cass, President, Cass & Associates, PC
  • Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Andrew Fois, Chair, Administrative Conference of the United States
  • Leslie B. Kiernan, General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Fernando Laguarda, General Counsel, AmeriCorps
  • Neil H. MacBride, General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • Anne Joseph O'Connell, Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
  • Nitin Shah, Director & Associate General Counsel in Global Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, Shopify
  • Jonathan C. Su, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Administrative Conference of the United States, "About ACUS," accessed February 14, 2024
  2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Administrative Conference of the United States, "History," accessed July 17, 2017
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ABC-CLIO, "The U.S. Justice System: Law and Constitution in Early America," 2012
  5. ↑ Administrative Council of the United States, "About the Members," accessed July 17, 2017
  6. ↑ LinkedIn, "Administrative Conference of the United States," accessed July 17, 2017
  7. ↑ Administrative Conference of the United States, "Browse Projects by Stage," accessed July 18, 2017
  8. ↑ Administrative Conference of the United States, "Negotiated Rulemaking and Other Options for Public Engagement," accessed February 21, 2018
  9. ↑ Cambridge University Press, "The American Influences on International Commercial Arbitration: Doctrinal Developments and Discovery Methods," March 30, 2009
  10. ↑ Environmental Protection Agency, "Final Guidance on Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution Techniques in Enforcement Actions," 1987
  11. ↑ Administrative Conference of the United States, "ACUS report informs Social Security Administration (SSA) recommendation to improve Representative Payee (Rep Payee) program," January 12, 2018
  12. ↑ Administrative Conference of the United States, "Committees," accessed July 18, 2017
  13. ↑ Administrative Council of the United States, "About the Chairman," accessed February 21, 2018
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Administrative Conference of the United States, "Council," accessed August 19, 2021
  15. ↑ Administrative Conference of the United States', "About the Council," accessed July 17, 2017
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Administrative Procedure Act • Antiquities Act • Civil Service Reform Act • Clayton Antitrust Act • Communications Act of 1934 • Congressional Review Act • Electronic Freedom of Information Act • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 • Federal Housekeeping Statute • Federal Reserve Act • Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Freedom of Information Act • Government in the Sunshine Act • Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 • Information Quality Act • Interstate Commerce Act • National Labor Relations Act • Paperwork Reduction Act • Pendleton Act • Privacy Act of 1974 • Regulatory Flexibility Act • REINS Act • REINS Act (Wisconsin) • Securities Act of 1933 • Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • Sherman Antitrust Act • Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act • Truth in Regulating Act • Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Cases
Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner • A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States • Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp • Auer v. Robbins • Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe • Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California • Field v. Clark • Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation • Humphrey's Executor v. United States • Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha • J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States • Lucia v. SEC • Marshall v. Barlow's • Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency • Mistretta v. United States • National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company • National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. • Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan • Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation • Skidmore v. Swift & Co. • United States v. Lopez • United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. • Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board • Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council • Wayman v. Southard • Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service • Whitman v. American Trucking Associations • Wickard v. Filburn • Wiener v. United States
Terms
Adjudication (administrative state) • Administrative judge • Administrative law • Administrative law judge • Administrative state • Arbitrary-or-capricious test • Auer deference • Barrier to entry • Bootleggers and Baptists • Chevron deference (doctrine) • Civil servant • Civil service • Code of Federal Regulations • Codify (administrative state) • Comment period • Compliance costs • Congressional Record • Coordination (administrative state) • Deference (administrative state) • Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) • Enabling statute • Ex parte communication (administrative state) • Executive agency • Federal law • Federal Register • Federalism • Final rule • Formal rulemaking • Formalism (law) • Functionalism (law) • Guidance (administrative state) • Hybrid rulemaking • Incorporation by reference • Independent federal agency • Informal rulemaking • Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) • Major rule • Negotiated rulemaking • Nondelegation doctrine • OIRA prompt letter • Organic statute • Pragmatism (law) • Precautionary principle • Promulgate • Proposed rule • Publication rulemaking • Regulatory budget • Regulatory capture • Regulatory dark matter • Regulatory impact analysis • Regulatory policy officer • Regulatory reform officer • Regulatory review • Rent seeking • Retrospective regulatory review • Risk assessment (administrative state) • Rulemaking • Separation of powers • Significant regulatory action • Skidmore deference • Statutory authority • Substantive law and procedural law • Sue and settle • Sunset provision • Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions • United States Code • United States Statutes at Large
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