Chapter 6

Administrative
Agencies
 Administrative Agencies
• Administers & Implements Congressional
Legislation
o Administrative agencies are lawmaking bodies with limited powers
delegated by Congress. Administrative agencies specialize in specific
issues that require expertise.
o Agencies are established by Article 1 §1:
• “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress
of the United States.” 

• Part of the Executive Branch

o Most administrative agencies fall under the supervision of the President. 
The Federal Aviation Administration and Secret Service are examples of
administrative agencies that fall under the supervision of the President.
o Some agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission are
considered Independent Agencies.
• Work & records open to public
o Sunshine Acts/Open Door Laws

• Agencies have Three Roles

o Legislative
• Congress passes laws creating the agency. the agency takes laws
passed by Congress through the rulemaking process.
• Promulgate rules
o The Agency adds the technical expertise needed for them to apply to
real-life situations. For example, a bill may mandate public
vaccinations, but a rule will explain which age groups and
demographics need the vaccination.

o https://www.federalregister.gov/uploads/2011/01/the_rulemaking_proc
ess.pdf
 o Executive
• Investigation
• Charges
• Enforcement
o Judicial
• ALJ
• Hearings
• Interpretation
o Did the FCC have the authority to impose the fines on the networks?
• FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. 132 S.Ct. 2307 (2012)
• In separate cases, respondent television broadcasters challenged decisions of petitioner, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), that certain broadcasts of fleeting expletives and fleeting nudity were indecent in violation of
18 U.S.C.S. § 1464. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit invalidated the FCC's indecency policy in
its entirety on vagueness grounds. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
• Overview: One of the broadcasters aired two live awards shows during which individuals made unscripted remarks that
included expletives. The second broadcaster aired a program that showed the nude buttocks of an adult female character
for approximately seven seconds. At the time of the broadcasts, FCC rulings required repetitive use of offensive material
in order for a broadcast to be found indecent. After the broadcasts, the FCC revised its policy and ruled that fleeting
expletives or nudity could be actionably indecent. The Supreme Court held that the FCC's application of its revised
indecency policy to the incidents at issue violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment due to vagueness. The
policy in place at the time of the broadcasts gave the broadcasters no notice that a fleeting expletive or a brief shot of
nudity could be actionably indecent. Because the Supreme Court resolved the cases based on a finding of lack of notice
to the broadcasters, it was unnecessary to consider the constitutionality of the FCC's current indecency policy.
• Outcome: The court of appeals' judgments were vacated, and the cases were remanded for further proceedings. 8-0
decision; 1 concurrence in the judgment.
•  

• Penalties