Markup
Markup is the Journal on Legislation‘s blog for short, timely updates about current topics in the legislative arena, including congressional power, legislative process, statutory interpretation, administrative law, and state and local legislatures.
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To Fix Social Media, Make Companies Pay the Price of Compulsive Use
June 24, 2026 Throughout the country and across the political spectrum, there is a growing consensus that stricter and more meaningful regulation of social media is needed. Despite social media companies’ lofty promises to “bring the world closer together” and democratize the flow of information, it has become clear that their products, in their current form, are also causing a great deal of harm to consumers—and contributing to some of the deepest problems we face as a society. Engagement-maximizing algorithms put us into informational silos, amplify misinformation, and direct vulnerable kids towards harmful content (such as content encouraging eating disorders).…
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Some First Principles on Large Language Model Capabilities and Federal Rulemaking
When it comes to federal administrative capacity, the Trump administration is working at cross-purposes with itself. On the one hand, it is taking a hatchet to the institutions of government: slashing the federal workforce and eliminating entire agencies (or trying to). On the other hand, its regulatory goals are ambitious. It is moving aggressively to rescind numerous federal regulations while at the same time asserting federal power in new and disquieting ways. To do “more” with less, the administration is turning to artificial intelligence. Last year, DOGE proposed to use a large language model (“LLM”) to rescind half of all…
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What Every House Member Should Know About the Previous Question Motion
The House of Representatives is currently in an era of extreme centralization of power. The Speaker of the House, via the powerful Rules Committee, essentially sets the agenda for the entire body, and retains all of the procedural prerogatives to effectuate that agenda. Rank-and-file Members have few options to advance their bills without the Speaker’s blessing. The recent success of discharge petitions to go around leadership has been noteworthy, but it also highlights the delays and difficulties inherent in that process. One procedural tactic, however, remains underutilized. Indeed, despite growing frustration with how the House has been run in recent…
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Congress Must Stand Up to the Supreme Court’s Attacks on Independent Agencies
The Supreme Court seems well on its way to gutting independent agencies, undermining Congress’s commitment to the public that important rights and protections would be enforced by experts free from the front lines of politics.
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Does the President Have Power to Impose Tariffs Using Peacetime Economic Sanctions Legislation?
In a pair of consolidated Supreme Court cases, the Justices will soon decide whether the President may impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), despite the existence of a separate and vast body of detailed trade legislation on topic. This post explains why we think this answer is ‘no.’
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A Legislative Shift in Ethics Reform: Congressional Stock Trading Ban Challenges Transparency-Based Remedies
The STOCK Act, which created a new requirement for officials to publicly report their stock trades within forty-five days of the transaction, intended to increase public trust in Congress by giving Americans an inside look into the financial interests of their lawmakers. This law was an overwhelming failure in two ways.
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The Accelerating Assault on Minority Rights in Congress
When Republican Majority Leader John Thune took to the Senate floor to weaken the filibuster on September 11, 2025, it was not just another sign of partisan acrimony in Washington. It was also the latest example of what may be developing into one of the most accelerated trends in a generation to curtail the rights of the minority party in Congress.
Markup‘s faculty advisor is Sharon Block, Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School.
All articles express the viewpoint of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Journal or Harvard Law School.
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