On February 21, 2025, GW Engineering-based Environmental and Energy Management Institute (EEMI) conducted a hugely popular web-based seminar entitled “Guardrails of Governance: Legal and Administrative Resilience in Trump 2.0.” The webinar, which attracted more than 1,200 registered participants, was a follow-up to the December 18, 2024, EEMI-produced webinar entitled “Navigating the Trump 2 Deregulatory Agenda: Lessons from Environmental Officials in Trump 1” (https://eem.engineering.gwu.edu/eemi-conducts-hugely-popular-webinar-protecting-environment-upcoming-presidential-administration).
This webinar was a collaboration between EEMI and the GW Law School. Panelists were Richard J. Pierce Jr., Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, who is one of the Nation’s foremost scholars on administrative law and the author of several seminal works on the relationship between executive power and regulatory agencies; Robert L. Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law, who specializes in administrative law, environmental regulation, and natural resources law; Caroline Cecot, an expert in regulatory law and economics; and Alan B. Morrison, Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law, who is a celebrated public interest litigator and the founding Director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group.
Dr. Edward Saltzberg, EEMI Director of Professional Education, organized and moderated the session, assisted by EEMI Deputy Executive Director Joe Cascio.
Webinar panelists discussed the judiciary's critical role in oversight of executive powers, the history environmental policies in President Trump’s first term and the first month of his second term and what it foreshadows, as well as what to expect by way of obstacles, agency autonomy, environmental regulation challenges, and statutory tools for upholding agency missions during political transitions.
In addition, the topic of transparency and accountability in government decision-making was discussed, along with the role of scientific and economic analyses in maintaining regulatory frameworks and the importance of preserving transparency in governance to safeguard public trust.
Finaly, panelists explored the importance of tools like the Freedom of Information Act and whistleblower protections in preserving institutional integrity.
The webinar helped to equip federal executives, legal practitioners, and other professionals with actionable strategies to navigate the evolving political landscape. A video recording of the event can be seen at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/9171457941317439323.
EEMI will be producing another webinar on this important topic, entitled “Trump's Second Act:
Power, Resistance, and the Limits of Governance,” that is scheduled to be conducted on Thursday, March 6, 2025.