Toward a More Accessible and Accountable Administrative State

ACUS recommends best practices for nonlawyer representation, AI tools, and public participation in rulemaking.

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent, nonpartisan federal agency charged with promoting efficiency and fairness in “federal regulatory processes.” To advance this mission, ACUS holds twice-yearly plenary sessions to develop and adopt recommendations aimed at improving administrative and regulatory procedures of federal agencies and protecting the public interest.

In December 2024, at its most recent plenary session, ACUS adopted three new recommendations to guide federal agencies:

ACUS identified best practices for expanding access to justice by increasing the availability of nonlawyer representatives and support for participants in federal agency adjudications.
ACUS recommended best practices to help agencies maintain robust public participation in rulemaking when they find good cause not to use normal notice-and-comment procedures.
ACUS offered guidance on how agencies can safely and responsibly use algorithmic tools, including artificial intelligence, in regulatory enforcement.

The Regulatory Review invited distinguished scholars and ACUS staff to discuss the agency’s December 2024 recommendations. In each essay in this series, the author or authors reflect on the purpose and intended impact of a recommendation they helped develop.

This series of essays features the following contributors: Kazia Nowacki of ACUS, Lea Robbins of ACUS, Mark Squillace of the University of Colorado Law School, and Amy Widman of Rutgers Law School.