A Columbia Law School professor brought out a bottle of champagne during a panel discussion Friday, saying he was in a “celebratory mood” over recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings limiting federal agency powers.
Professor Philip Hamburger, who founded the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), which aims to limit agency powers, was greeted with gasps and laughter as he popped the cork in Washington, D.C.
Hamburger was speaking at a panel on administrative law at the Federalist Society’s annual convention in the capital after a number of decisions, including the effective overturning of the Chevron doctrine in June. He said the U.S. had seen “the rise and rise of the administrative state” over the past few decades.
“We now can see the tipping point when it starts to fall and fall. Won’t that be jolly,” he said. “Of course this is just the beginning. As Churchill said, ‘This is not the end. This is not even the beginning …