Trump’s War on ‘Deep State’ Judges

For years, Ray Lucia was a nationally syndicated radio host and financial adviser who crisscrossed the U.S. touting his Buckets of Money retirement plan. Using data that regulators later argued were fake, he wowed audiences with presentations showing how his investment strategy would have protected nest eggs in the booms and busts of the 1960s and ’70s. In 2015, endorsing an administrative law judge’s finding that Lucia misled retirees, the Securities and Exchange Commission kicked him out of the financial advice business.

On April 23, Lucia’s appeal will be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court, with Lucia arguing that the judge who first ruled against him wasn’t appointed properly. Siding with him—and against the SEC’s long-standing position—will be the Trump administration. The move amounts to a broadside aimed at the 1,900 administrative law judges (ALJs) who help federal agencies enforce laws and are a key part of the administrative “deep state” that Trump has vowed to dismantle.