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Unwritten Law

Mark Chenoweth & John Vecchione

Every day, unelected federal agencies make decisions that affect your job, your business, your speech, your property, and your constitutional rights—often without Congress ever voting on them. From the rules that govern small businesses to the regulations that shape everyday life, the modern administrative state reaches further than most Americans realize. On Unwritten Law, constitutional lawyers Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down the biggest legal battles involving federal agencies,

government

All Episodes

26:27

Student Loan Pauses, Standing, and Lost Subsidies

Unwritten Law ·

2026/02/20

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Russ Ryan to discuss a recent oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit challenging the federal government’s student loan payment and interest pause.The case, Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. U.S. Department of Education, focuses on the executive branch’s decision—under both the Trump and Biden administrations—to extend a moratorium on student loan

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24:29

The SEC’s Stock Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment

Unwritten Law ·

2026/02/11

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by NCLA Of Counsel Margot Cleveland to discuss one of NCLA’s most consequential ongoing cases: Davidson v. Adkins, a constitutional challenge to the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).The CAT requires broker-dealers to collect and transmit detailed data on virtually every stock trade in the United States, creating a massive government-accessible database of Americans’ financial activity. Margot explains why recent

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13:25

Can DOE Regulate Water Use Without Congress?

Unwritten Law ·

2026/02/09

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione discuss John’s recent oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Word v. Department of Energy.Bill Word and David Daquin both own a dishwasher and a washing machine that they want to replace. The U.S. Department of Energy has imposed regulations in 2012 and 2024 illegally limiting how much water dishwashers and washing machines can use. The appliances Word and Daquin

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21:15

Seven Amicus Briefs, One Big Question After Loper Bright

Unwritten Law ·

2026/02/06

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione and NCLA President Mark Chenoweth discuss a major development in NCLA’s challenge to a federal rule requiring fishermen to pay for government monitors placed on their boats—despite no clear statutory authorization.After a district court upheld the rule using a theory that conflicts with the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright, NCLA appealed to the First Circuit. Now, seven separate amicus briefs—from across the

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18:37

Cross-Deputized—and Above the Law?

Unwritten Law ·

2026/02/04

What happens when a state or local police officer violates someone’s constitutional rights—and courts say there’s no practical way to sue?In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Casey Norman to discuss Mohamud v. Weyker (No. 25-760), now at the U.S. Supreme Court.NCLA’s amicus brief explains that multiple courts have recognized Officer Heather Weyker (a St. Paul police officer) abused her authority by fabricating

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27:53

Trump v. Cook: Can a President Fire a Fed Governor...

Unwritten Law ·

2026/02/01

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down the Supreme Court’s oral argument in Trump v. Cook, a case that puts presidential power, Federal Reserve independence, and the meaning of “for cause” removal squarely before the Court.The discussion explores why the Justices appeared unusually skeptical of the government’s position, how the case arrived on the emergency docket, and whether a president must provide notice or a hearing before removing a Federal Reserve

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12:41

The SEC’s Massive Surveillance Database: Davidson, et...

Unwritten Law ·

2026/01/27

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by Peggy Little, Senior Litigation Counsel at NCLA, to discuss one of the most consequential cases in the organization’s docket: Davidson, et al. v. Atkins, a constitutional challenge to the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).The CAT is a massive nationwide database that collects and stores every stock trade made by every American investor, without suspicion, clear statutory authorization, or congressional

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16:53

Can Agencies Force You to Fund Your Own Regulation?

Unwritten Law ·

2026/01/23

In this episode of Unwritten Law, John Vecchione and Mark Chenoweth unpack the latest chapter in Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, a case that sits at the crossroads of administrative power, statutory interpretation, and life after Chevron deference.The conversation focuses on whether federal agencies can require regulated parties — here, commercial fishermen — to pay for government-mandated monitors placed on their boats, even when Congress never clearly authorized those costs. John

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16:01

When Agencies Hold the Keys: FTC Investigations and...

Unwritten Law ·

2026/01/22

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by Peggy Little, Senior Litigation Counsel at NCLA, to discuss NCLA’s amicus brief in Media Matters v. Federal Trade Commission, currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.The conversation focuses on the FTC’s use of civil investigative demands (CIDs) and a fundamental constitutional question: must individuals and organizations have access to an independent court before complying with sweeping agency

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11:43

An Accidental Landmark? How VanDerStok Could Revive...

Unwritten Law ·

2026/01/12

Chevron deference may be gone—but is the Supreme Court quietly laying the groundwork for something even worse?In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione examine a recent Supreme Court decision that could dramatically reshape administrative law. Drawing on analysis by Will Yeatman, they discuss how the Court’s handling of VanDerStok risks giving agencies a powerful new shield by treating challenges to regulations as “facial” attacks—making them nearly impossible to win.The

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17:14

The Supreme Court at 250: Chief Justice Roberts,...

Unwritten Law ·

2026/01/09

As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Chief Justice of the United States reflects on America’s founding principles in his annual Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary. But what does that report really say about the state of the Supreme Court today?In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione unpack Chief Justice Roberts’s historical reflections, his views on the Declaration of

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23:18

Government by the Unelected: How the Administrative...

Unwritten Law ·

2026/01/06

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione dig into a major new essay by R.J.Pestritto, Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute, titled “Government by the Unelected: How It Happened and How It Might Be Tamed.”https://dc.claremont.org/government-by-the-unelected-how-it-happened-and-how-it-might-be-tamed/The discussion traces the intellectual and legal origins of the modern administrative state — from Progressive-era theory and Woodrow Wilson, through the New Deal, the rise

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19:04

Why The Little Sisters Are Still Fighting the ACA...

Unwritten Law ·

2025/12/22

Why are the Little Sisters of the Poor still being dragged into court over the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate—years after the Supreme Court ruled in their favor?On this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Andy Morris to discuss a newly filed amicus brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Pennsylvania & New Jersey v. Trump. The case challenges religious exemptions that protect the Little Sisters,

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14:17

Mass Surveillance by License Plate: The City of Marco...

Unwritten Law ·

2025/12/19

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by Andreia Trifoi to discuss NCLA’s constitutional challenge to the City of Marco Island’s use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) — a surveillance system that records and stores the movements of every driver entering or leaving the island.Because Marco Island has only three bridges, residents are photographed and tracked multiple times a day, with their location data retained for years and potentially shared with

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21:11

Executive Power on Trial: Trump v. Slaughter, Part II

Unwritten Law ·

2025/12/15

In this follow-up episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione continue their deep dive into the Supreme Court’s oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter, focusing on key issues that received less attention in Part I — but may prove just as consequential.The conversation explores whether there is any meaningful constitutional distinction between criminal and civil enforcement, and why several justices appeared skeptical of claims that civil enforcement power is somehow “less executive.”

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27:48

Trump v. Slaughter: Is Humphrey’s Executor Finally Dead?

Unwritten Law ·

2025/12/12

Just days after oral argument, Unwritten Law hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down one of the most consequential separation-of-powers cases in decades: Trump v. Slaughter.At stake is Humphrey’s Executor, the 1935 Supreme Court decision that allowed Congress to insulate powerful federal regulators from presidential control. If overturned, the ruling could fundamentally reshape the modern administrative state.Mark and John walk through the justices’ questions, the strengths and weaknesses

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12:31

FERC’s Duty of Candor Rule: Dead on Arrival

Unwritten Law ·

2025/12/10

In this episode, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione sit down with NCLA Litigation Counsel Casey Norman to break down a major regulatory win: stopping FERC’s sweeping “Duty of Candor” rule before it ever hit the books. The proposed rule would have allowed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to punish any speaker — from corporations to ordinary citizens — for any statement, email, or phone call the agency deemed “false,” “misleading,” or missing “material information,” with no mens rea requirement

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18:47

BASE Jumping, Bureaucracy, and the Law

Unwritten Law ·

2025/12/09

In this episode, Casey Norman joins Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione to unpack BASE Access, et al. v. National Park Service, a remarkable case about whether a federal agency can criminalize BASE jumping in national parks without any clear authorization from Congress. For nearly 50 years, the National Park Service has treated BASE jumping as a crime—even though the regulation they rely on was written in the 1950s to prevent cargo drops, not recreational jumping.Casey explains the nondelegation

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21:24

When SEC Receivers Go Too Far: Russ Ryan on Barton v....

Unwritten Law ·

2025/11/30

Senior Litigation Counsel Russ Ryan joins Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione to break down Barton v. SEC, a newly filed cert petition that challenges the SEC’s practice of using court-appointed receivers to seize assets, run companies, and even sue third parties—all without clear statutory authority. Russ explains how these ad-hoc receiverships raise serious Appointments Clause, separation-of-powers, bankruptcy-evasion, and Sixth Amendment concerns, and why the Supreme Court should put a stop to this

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28:54

Trump v. Slaughter: The Supreme Court Case That Could...

Unwritten Law ·

2025/11/24

In this episode of Unwritten Law, Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione welcome Margot Cleveland to unpack the Supreme Court case Trump v. Slaughter, a historic challenge to whether the President can remove commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission at will.They walk through the key amicus briefs, Professor Caleb Nelson’s arguments, and Philip Hamburger’s response in the Yale Journal on Regulation emphasizing the Constitution’s unitary executive structure. The trio also discuss the foreign-policy

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