Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[Robert from yahoo bd]

The SCOTUS heard two cases on Monday that may make it easier to challenge federal agency overreach. Todays WP: "Conservative Supreme Court justices indicated Monday that they are ready to ease the process of challenging the regulatory power of federal agencies, hearing arguments in two cases that could diminish the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, respectively.

The issue in both cases seems mundane: whether someone singled out for enforcement action by either agency can go directly to federal court to make challenges about the constitutionality of the process. In both cases, the plaintiffs are challenging whether in-house administrative law judges used by the agencies are not appointed in ways that square with the Constitution. They don't want to wait for final agency action to begin their challenges.

But the bigger issue is a battle by business interests to weaken the federal administrative state, and the plaintiffs hope to build on a string of Supreme Court decisions that have advanced that cause. "