SUNSTEIN TAPPED FOR REGULATORY CZAR

This is not exactly immigration news, but I was really pleased to learn that Professor Cass Sunstein has been selected by President-Elect Obama to be the Administration's new regulatory chief. This is a newly created position and the title is administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget. The position has oversight over environmental, healthcare, and safety issues.

I took several courses tought by Professor Sunstein when I was a law student at the University of Chicago two decades ago. After nearly a quarter century at the U of C, Professor Sunstein left for Harvard last year to be closer to his new bride, Pulitzer Prize winning Irish-American journalist Samantha Power (who is also on the Harvard faculty).

Professor Sunstein was one of my favorite professors in law school and had a big influence on my career. I took his administrative law course and got hooked. While I initially thought environmental law was the career for me, early on at my first firm I discovered another administrative law field that was more to my liking - immigration law. 

Another favorite professor - Judge Diane Wood - is frequently mentioned as a potential Supreme Court nominee. I hope I have occasion to write a blog post one day soon congratulating her on a major nomination.

Comments

[USC]

The position of head of OIRA is not a "newly created position." OIRA has been around for decades. Also, OIRA has oversight over ALL reg matters, not just environmental, healthcare, and safety issues.

[John Lamb]

I agree completely. Sunstein taught my Elements and my Admin Law classes, and he was not only a keenly insightful (and prolific) scholar but also a fascinating communicator.