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The Architecture of Delegation: Mapping Agency Authority in the Modern Administrative State

Patrick A. McLaughlin
Mitchell Scacchi
Luke Wake
Charles M. Brandt

Abstract

We used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a database of congressional delegations that connects the specific statutory authorities granted by Congress with the rules that agencies promulgate on the basis of those delegations. This inventory of delegations allows users to identify each rule’s authorizing statute and sort rules by agency, type of delegation, and number of statutory restrictions. More specifically, the database deploys AI to divide delegating statutes into one of two categories: general (containing broad or vague delegations, e.g., “the agency shall regulate in public interest”) and specific (containing delegations of more limited scope, e.g., “in connection with program X, the agency shall develop standards based on Y”). Ultimately, our database will assist users in visualizing and understanding the relationship between the thousands of regulations currently on the books and their authorizing statutes.

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Author information:

Patrick A. McLaughlin
Research Fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University
Visiting Research Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation
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Mitchell Scacchi
Strategic Research Manager, Pacific Legal Foundation
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Luke Wake
Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
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Charles M. Brandt
Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
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Recommended citation:

Patrick A. McLaughlin, Mitchell Scacchi, Luke Wake & Charles M. Brandt, The Architecture of Delegation: Mapping Agency Authority in the Modern Administrative State, 1 Indep. L.J. 210 (2026)