ACUS recommends best practices for adjudication offices, government records, temporary rules, and intergovernmental collaboration.
The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is a nonpartisan federal agency dedicated to improving the efficiency, fairness, and transparency of federal administrative processes. Established by Congress in 1968, ACUS brings together senior government officials, scholars, and practitioners to study and recommend improvements to how agencies administer federal programs.
At its January plenary session, ACUS adopted four recommendations. This series of essays explores those recommendations and the research that informed them. Each essay is written by the distinguished academic or ACUS staff member who wrote the research report underlying a recommendation.
The first essay examines how federal agencies can strengthen the fairness, accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of their adjudication systems by adopting management practices based on the primary methods parties use to obtain government records. The second essay examines how federal agencies can enhance intergovernmental collaboration between them and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments—a routine feature of modern governance. The third essay addresses the regulatory phenomenon of temporary rules—rules that self-terminate on a pre-established date—and the best practices that ACUS has recommended for issuing, monitoring, and overseeing them. The last essay considers how agencies can improve access to government records in administrative proceedings, reducing burdens on private parties and agency officials alike while increasing trust in government decision-making.
The series features essays from the following contributors: Margaret Kwoka of Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Jennifer Lee Koh of Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, Eyal Lurie-Pardes of the Administrative Conference of the United States, Pamela McCann of the University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy, Lea Robbins of the Administrative Conference of the United States, and Jennifer L. Selin of Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.
Obtaining Government Records
June 15, 2026 | Eyal Lurie-Pardes, Administrative Conference of the United States, and Margaret Kwoka, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
ACUS recommends best practices for making government records available in agency proceedings.
Strengthening Partnerships in Federal Administration
June 15, 2026 | Pamela J. Clouser McCann, University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy, and Jennifer L. Selin, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
ACUS recommends best practices for federal agencies when they collaborate with other governments.
Temporary Rules
June 16, 2026 | Eyal Lurie-Pardes, Administrative Conference of the United States
ACUS recommends best practices for issuing, monitoring, and overseeing temporary rules.
Organization, Management, and Operation of Agency Adjudication Offices
June 16, 2026 | Jennifer Lee Koh, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, and Lea Robbins, Administrative Conference of the United States
ACUS recommends best practices for organizing, managing, and operating agency adjudication offices.
