Professor Amy C. Gaudion presents at the American Bar Association’s 2026 Administrative Law Spring Conference

CARLISLE— Professor Amy C. Gaudion presented her current research project during the 2026 Academic Paper Workshops at the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section’s Spring Conference, held on May 7, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

Gaudion’s current work-in-progress, “Unleashing the Watchdogs,” challenges the unitary executive narrative and contests the assertion of an unrestrained and unrestrainable presidential power of removal when the subject matter involves the deployment of military force and the use of intelligence capabilities. It considers the unique need for and contributions of inspectors general in the agencies tasked with national security, defense, and intelligence activities, particularly in the context of the Trump v Slaughter and Trump v Cook cases, as well as other removal cases currently percolating up through the federal courts.

The article exposes the tug-of-war between the need for political accountability and the desire for mechanisms of transparency and independent oversight. It urges a reframing of the interests at stake and a re-balancing of the need for political accountability and policy alignment within the executive branch when the interest in independent internal oversight is heightened.

Amy C. Gaudion is a professor of law at Penn State Dickinson Law as well as the founder of Penn State Dickinson Law’s annual cyberspace simulation with the U.S. Army War College. Her scholarship focuses on constitutional law, national security law, and civil-military relations, and she leads the Law School’s national security and cyberspace programs.