Decoding Delegated Power with AI
How it works
Our database links every rule in the Code of Federal Regulations to its underlying statutory authority. Each delegation is classified as specific or general, based on the level of statutory direction provided. Users can sort regulations by agency, delegation type, or regulatory burden—measured using data from the RegData project. The result is a comprehensive resource for analyzing the reach and concentration of delegated power across the federal bureaucracy.
- Search statutory authorities and regulations by federal agency.
- Search by the type of delegation contained in a USC Section. The classifications may help bring attention to areas in which agencies have clearly overshot their mandate.
- Search the Code of Federal Regulations and U.S. Code by keywords or phrases.
- Sort search results by the number of regulatory restrictions contained in the CFR Part. Regulatory restrictions is a proxy for the number of prohibitions and obligations contained in regulatory text, and is measured by counting occurrences of words like “shall,” “must,” and “may not.”
- Select the link to view the CFR title and part in which a regulation was published.
- Select the link to view the title and section of the U.S. Code in which the delegating authority was published.
What is the Nondelegation Project?
The Nondelegation Project is a first-of-its-kind, AI-enhanced tool tracing powers Congress has delegated to federal agencies. By systematically linking each federal regulation to its authorizing statute, our database fills a critical gap in understanding the true scope of modern rulemaking by unelected officials.
Funded and developed by Pacific Legal Foundation—a national public interest law firm dedicated to defending the constitutional separation of powers—The Nondelegation Project seeks to decode power delegated to federal agencies. Informed by the legal landscape shaped by Loper Bright and the end of Chevron deference, the Project provides policymakers, litigators, and scholars with a clear, data-driven view of how congressional delegations have enabled the growth of the modern administrative state. By tracing regulatory authority back to its statutory roots, the Nondelegation Project supports more accountable governance and stronger legislative oversight.
Why It Matters
The Constitution establishes that only Congress can make laws; the executive branch enforces the law. That’s key to the separation of powers, our country’s best safeguard for individual liberty. But as the nondelegation doctrine has eroded, executive branch agencies have amassed sweeping authority to issue thousands of binding regulations that directly affect Americans’ lives. The Nondelegation Project equips policymakers, legal scholars, and advocates with the data needed to track, connect and challenge unlawful delegations of legislative power.
Who developed the Project?
Pacific Legal Foundation’s Fight to Restore the Separation of Powers
The Nondelegation Project makes it easier for the public to see exactly what power has been delegated to administrative agencies—and therefore is a significant new tool in PLF’s ongoing fight to rein in the unconstitutional “fourth branch” of government.
Patrick McLaughlin’s Nondelegation Project
Patrick A. McLaughlin is a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Pacific Legal Foundation. His research focuses primarily on regulations and the regulatory process.
Patrick created and leads the RegData and QuantGov projects, deploying AI, machine learning, and other tools of data science to quantify governance indicators found in federal and state regulations, statutes, and other policy documents. The resulting database has facilitated pioneering empirical research by hundreds of third-party users on the causes and effects of regulation.