Administrative Law
Why it Matters
The Occupational Safety and Health Act never says how high a guardrail must be. OSHA, the Labor Department agency that sets workplace safety standards, wrote the number into a regulation: 42 inches, give or take three. Most of the rules a business follows come from agencies this way, because Congress sets a goal in a statute and leaves the detail to specialists. Before most of those rules bind anyone, the agency must publish them as proposals and consider what the public writes back. In this activity, you write back.
Current Context
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court held 6-3 in Trump v. Slaughter (opens in a new tab) that the President may fire Federal Trade Commission members at will. The statute allowing their removal only for cause violates the separation of powers, because the modern FTC “unquestionably exercises executive power” and must answer to the President. SCOTUSblog’s analysis (opens in a new tab) explains that the Court overruled what remained of Humphrey’s Executor, the 1935 decision that had shielded independent agencies, and left the Federal Reserve for another day. A June 30, 2026 client memo (opens in a new tab) argues that the ruling reaches the Consumer Product Safety Commission, whose statute has a similar clause. If the rule you comment on comes from a commission like these, its members may now serve at the President’s pleasure, and that changes who you are really writing to.
Key Concepts
Enabling Legislation
A statute in which Congress creates an agency or gives an existing one authority over a defined field, such as workplace safety or the securities markets. It names the agency’s mission and marks where its power ends. Without that grant, an agency cannot bind anyone with a rule.
Administrative Agency
A government body in the executive branch, such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the Securities and Exchange Commission, that carries out the goals its enabling legislation sets. Its staff are specialists rather than elected officials, and they write and enforce the regulations in their field. The agency is where a statute’s goal turns into something a business must actually do.
Regulation
A detailed rule, issued by an agency, that carries the force of law. A statute may order clean air; the regulation sets the emission limit a particular kind of factory must meet. The regulation is the text a compliance officer reads every day.
Administrative Procedure Act
The federal statute that governs how agencies make rules and decide cases. It requires public notice of a proposed rule and a chance to comment, so an agency cannot write a binding rule in private. A business that challenges a regulation in court often wins by showing the agency skipped a step the APA requires.
Rulemaking
The process the APA sets for creating, amending, or repealing a regulation. The agency publishes its proposal, takes public comment, and then issues a final rule that explains its basis and answers the significant objections. A business that follows rulemaking sees a regulatory change coming before it lands.
Notice and Comment
The stage of rulemaking in which the agency publishes its proposed rule in the Federal Register and opens a window, usually 30 to 60 days, for written comments. Anyone may file one, and the agency must respond to the significant ones in its final rule. A comment backed by evidence can change what that final rule says.
Resources
- Very Brief Introduction: Administrative Law (opens in a new tab) (Professor Nate’s short overview of how agencies make law; watch it first.)
- A Brief History of Administrative Law (opens in a new tab) (Where agencies came from and why they grew; background for the Authority Tracer conversation.)
- Administrative Law, LawShelf (opens in a new tab) (A free five-module video course on how agencies are created, how far their authority reaches, how they make rules, and how courts review what they do.)
- Regulations.gov (opens in a new tab) (The site where you find your proposed rule in Part 1 and file your comment in Part 3.)
- Regulations.gov FAQ (opens in a new tab) (How to search for open rules and what happens to a comment after you submit it.)
- Learn About the Rulemaking Process, Regulations.gov (opens in a new tab) (The government’s own walkthrough of the steps from proposed rule to final rule.)
- Federal Register (opens in a new tab) (The daily journal where agencies publish proposed and final rules; the notice for your rule appears here.)
- A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies, USA.gov (opens in a new tab) (Find the official website of the agency behind your rule for Part 2.)
- 5 U.S.C. § 553, Rule making, Cornell LII (opens in a new tab) (The section of the Administrative Procedure Act that requires notice and comment; the legal reason your comment must be considered.)
- Administrative Procedure Act, Cornell Wex (opens in a new tab) (A short explanation of the APA and the kinds of agency action it governs.)
What to Do
You will take part in federal rulemaking: find a proposed rule on Regulations.gov, trace it to the agency and statute behind it, and file an official public comment. Proposed rules are written for specialists, so do not stall on the technical detail. What matters is seeing how a statute’s goal becomes a regulation, and adding your voice before it does.
Part 1: Find and Explore a Proposed Rule
Start on Regulations.gov. Search by topic or keyword until you find a proposed rule that is open for comment and that interests you. Read its summary and note the agency proposing it. Then give the rule to the Rule Analyst and have it lay out the rule’s purpose, its main provisions, and why the agency wants it. Aim for the big picture; you do not need every detail.
Part 2: Understand the Agency Behind the Rule
Now turn to the agency behind your rule. Find its official website through the USA.gov agency index, and learn its mission, its basic structure, and the enabling legislation that gives it authority. Run the Authority Tracer to see where the agency sits in the constitutional and statutory framework. Then use the Agency Profiler to connect the agency’s work to your rule and to one recent, real example of what it regulates. Confirm that example on the agency’s own site or in a news report before you rely on it.
Part 3: Write and Submit Your Public Comment
Go back to your rule on Regulations.gov and decide whether you support it or oppose it. Use the Comment Drafter to write a well-reasoned public comment of at least 100 words, grounded in the rule’s stated purpose and its effect in the real world. Then submit the comment officially through Regulations.gov. Save a copy of the exact text you submitted, because Part 4 asks for it word for word.
Part 4: Post Your Deliverable
Post a new discussion thread of at least 300 words. In the first paragraph, name the proposed rule and explain its purpose in plain terms. In the second, name the agency and explain its mission and the enabling legislation behind it. Close that paragraph with one specific example of what the agency regulates, including a recent news event connected to the agency. Then paste the exact text of the comment you submitted.
Part 5: Share Chat Link
Include one AI chat link with a 1–2 sentence explanation of what the conversation shows and why you chose to share it.
Suggested AI Prompts
Use these prompts as a starting point, then adjust them to fit your goal. Strong prompting develops through trial, revision, and testing. It’s a foundational skill that grows into more advanced AI work such as context engineering and agent-based workflows.
Rule Analyst
Act as a regulatory compliance analyst. Help me analyze a proposed federal regulation. I will paste the text or upload the PDF of the rule. Summarize its main purpose and identify the agency proposing it. Then explain how the rule connects to the agency’s mission and enabling statute, and describe any recent developments that relate to it. Work only from the document I give you and from what you can state with confidence; if the rule does not say something, tell me rather than filling the gap. Keep your tone neutral and aimed at helping a student see how this rule fits into the federal rulemaking process.
Source grounding: you supply the rule, and the prompt keeps the model inside it. Without that instruction, a summary can quietly blend the rule’s text with whatever the model assumes about the topic.
Authority Tracer
Act as my administrative law tutor. Help me understand the basics of administrative law in the United States: the role of the Administrative Procedure Act, how executive agencies make regulations, and how Congress creates and empowers agencies through enabling legislation. I am especially interested in how this fits within the constitutional framework of separation of powers and checks and balances, and in how statutes and regulations interact. Use plain language and concrete examples, and organize the explanation like a lesson or study guide with headings.
Structured output: a study guide with headings makes the model take each piece of the framework in turn instead of writing one long essay. You come away with something to review again before you draft your comment in Part 3.
Agency Profiler
Act as an expert in federal government operations. I am studying a specific federal agency and need help putting it in context. I will give you the agency’s name. Explain its mission, its legal authority including the enabling legislation, a brief history, and one recent example of something it regulates. For the example, tell me where I can confirm it, and if you are not certain an event happened as you describe it, say so. Then explain how the agency fits into the framework of executive power under the Constitution and how Congress uses enabling legislation to delegate authority. Keep the explanation organized and suited to a college law class.
Role assignment with a verification hook. Agency histories are where models invent confident details, so the prompt asks where you can confirm the example and makes the model say when it is unsure.
Comment Drafter
Act as a professional policy advocate and writing assistant. I need to submit an official public comment of at least 100 words on a proposed federal regulation through Regulations.gov. I will share the rule’s summary and my position, for or against. Help me write a thoughtful, well-reasoned comment that explains my perspective clearly and respectfully, in a tone suited to a public submission, grounded in the rule’s stated purpose and its real-world impact. Do not add facts, statistics, or claims that I did not give you. Keep the comment focused and easy to understand.
Constraint setting: the ban on facts you did not supply keeps a persuasive draft honest. Your comment goes on the public docket under your name, so the model may organize your argument but never invent support for it.