WHAT: The Administrative Conference of the United States is hosting a forum to explore the latest thought on special interest influence and the administrative state. Panels will discuss how to measure regulatory capture in the rulemaking context; whether federal agencies’ allegedly weak enforcement of regulatory crimes is evidence of capture; and whether increased transparency, robust enforcement, enhanced judicial oversight, or deregulation are plausible solutions to special interest influence. 

WHO: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will deliver opening remarks, in addition to remarks by Senator Mike Lee, and closing remarks by Senator Elizabeth Warren. Panels will  feature Judge Jed S. Rakoff, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times, Brandon Garrett of the University of Virginia School of Law, Ronald A. Cass, President of Cass & Associates, Neomi Rao of George Mason School of Law, Sidney Shapiro of Wake Forest University School of Law, Daniel Carpenter of Harvard University, Mark Calabria of the Cato Institute, and Steve Croley, General Counsel of the Department of Energy.

WHEN: Thursday, March 3, 2016 - 9:30 a.m. - noon

Tentative Agenda:

9:30 - 10 a.m.        Opening Remarks by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

10 - 10:15 a.m.      Remarks by Senator Mike Lee

10:15 - 11 a.m.      Panel One – Agency Enforcement and Evidence of Capture

11 - 11:45 a.m.      Panel Two – Regulatory Capture in Rulemaking

11:45 a.m. - noon  Closing Remarks by Senator Elizabeth Warren

WHERE: Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 106 (Located northeast of the Capitol on a site bounded by Constitution Avenue, C Street, First Street, and Second Street N.E.)

WHY: Everyone believes regulatory capture exists, but no one agrees on what it looks like. This forum aims to bring together leading experts from government, the federal bench, the academy, and the business world to explore the concept in a more rigorous way.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brendan Raedy, braedy@acus.gov, 202-480-2091

For more information, and to RSVP, visit http://www.acus.gov/regulatorycaptureworkshop