The Federalist Society Will Soon Be Under New Management

What makes Ray’s writing on administrative law so striking is his insistence that regulators are “morally illegitimate” and out of touch with the people living under agency regulations, but all of his empathy seems to be reserved for the corporations being regulated, rather than for the people who benefit from healthy food and drugs, safe workplaces, and a clean environment. While Ray is aligned with FedSoc on one of its core issues here, the Supreme Court is already doing the right’s dirty work in gutting the administrative state, so it may be a bit of a surprise to see someone so singularly focused get the job.

Dean Reuter is a senior vice president and general counsel at the Federalist Society. While he has not been as present in the public eye as organizational leaders like Gene Meyer and Leonard Leo, Reuter has been a key figure in FedSoc’s rise, and a driving force for its preferred policies and judicial candidates. Much of Reuter’s writing has criticized the supposedly out-of-control growth of the administrative state. He has a very particular view of what kind of state power is problematic, however, opposing regulatory action but supporting extensive government control and violence in the name of national security. Tellingly, the co-author of his book Liberty’s Nemesis: the Unchecked Expansion of the State was the author of the infamous torture memo supporting violent interrogations of enemy combatants, John Yoo.

Reuter was critical of efforts at combating the early effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, telling a radio show, “When you give people money, they get dependent and come back for more money.” He has also questioned campaign finance laws of the kind overturned in Citizens United v. FEC. Because of his long tenure at FedSoc and close work with Meyer, Reuter may be seen as a more conciliatory pick, and one that could take full advantage of the organization right off the bat because of his strong institutional knowledge.