Transitory ALJs Threaten Administrative Due Process

Federal agencies routinely 'loan' administrative law judges (ALJs) to one another, creating a pool of transitory adjudicators who sit outside Article III oversight. This practice—documented in a PLF study of 960 ALJs across 42 agencies and cases like Berlin v. DOL—raises risks of constitutional infirmity, reduced transparency about who decides, and institutional bias toward regulators. — If administrative adjudication depends on borrowed, agency‑housed judges, the legitimacy and fairness of regulatory enforcement are at stake, forcing debate on APA compliance, Article III separation, and oversight reforms.