Spending Programs and the New Roberts Court

Add to Calendar: Add to Calendar: 2026-01-27 12:00:00 2026-01-27 13:00:00 Spending Programs and the New Roberts Court Event Description This is an in-person event for students only. Anyone else can attend virtually by registering. CLE credit available for virtual attendance. The Supreme Court is poised to place new limits on Congress’s spending power at the urging of states vying for regulatory dominance. Most federal and state programs addressing health and social welfare heavily rely on the federal spending power, and three recent Supreme Court decisions--Health and Hospital Corporation v. Talevski, Medina v. Planned Parenthood, and Moyle v. U.S.—are the tip of the iceberg. Four theories are arising throughout these cases, testing the breadth of the spending power and private enforcement of spending programs. If state advocates are successful (Medina indicates they have gained traction already), then shifts in the scope, interpretation, and enforcement of longstanding social programs may occur. Yet, states may not achieve their expected outcomes. If it becomes harder to exercise the spending power with state partners, Congress may act without them, or abandon the programs altogether, depending on the political environment and other factors. State advocates may experience a short-term political gain by limiting federal authority over spending programs, but, long-term, states have needed federal money to balance their budgets, especially during economic downturns. Also, federal spending power has long been used to protect civil rights, so new limits may contribute to retrenchment. About The Speaker Nicole Huberfeld is a Visiting Scholar at the Petrie Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. She is also Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law at Boston University, with a joint appointment at the Law School and the School of Public Health. She is Chair of the BU Health Law Program and a founding Co-Director of the BU Program on Reproductive Justice. Her research focuses on the intersection of health law and constitutional law, often studying law as a structural determinant of health. She frequently publishes on federalism in health care, which includes topics within health reform, Medicaid, and the post-Dobbs reproductive health landscape. She has more than 100 publications, including two leading health law casebooks, book chapters, law journal articles, peer-reviewed articles, and commentaries. Her work has been cited in judicial opinions by the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal and state courts as well as by federal and state agencies. In 2025, she won the BUSPH Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship as well as the “Do” Award for the Department of Health Law, Policy & Management. In 2019, she won an Excellence in Teaching Award at BUSPH, and students have nominated her yearly for the Pettit and the Melton Awards for excellence in teaching at BU Law. She also serves as Research Director for the Uniform Law Commission’s Joint Editorial Board on Health Law. Media quotes include the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Bloomberg News, Reuters, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Politico, Boston Globe, Stat News, and Univision. Download the reading material. Virtual School of Law School of Law America/New_York public