Judge Andrew Oldham
Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Andrew Stephen Oldham was born in 1978 in Richmond, Virginia. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, received a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. He clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Oldham worked as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel during the George W. Bush administration. He then clerked for Justice Samuel Alito at the U.S. Supreme Court. He served in the Office of the Solicitor General of Texas as Deputy Solicitor General, then entered into private practice. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law.
President Donald Trump nominated Oldham to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. After a cloture vote, his nomination was narrowly confirmed by the Senate. He received his commission in July 2018.
In the News…
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF) tax was created under a combination of delegations and subdelegations of congressional power that is unconstitutional.
In the majority opinion, Judge Andrew Oldham wrote, “In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress delegated its taxing power to the Federal Communications Commission. FCC then subdelegated the taxing power to a private corporation. That private corporation, in turn, relied on for-profit telecommunications companies to determine how much American citizens would be forced to pay for the ‘universal service‘ tax that appears on cell phone bills across the Nation. We hold this misbegotten tax violates Article I, § 1 of the Constitution.“
He continued, “FCC does not administer all these universal service programs itself. Instead, it relies on a private company called the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). … USAC is responsible for deciding the quarterly USF contribution amount… FCC then uses USAC’s contribution amount to impose a tax on America’s telecommunications carriers.“
Judge Oldham added, “Many of the billions injected into the USF have undoubtedly been deployed to support the important goal of universal service. But waste and fraud have also contributed to the USF’s astronomical growth. … Congress cannot exercise control by limiting appropriations because the whole point of USF is to fund universal service outside the regular appropriations process.“
The decision concluded, “The scope of FCC’s delegation to private entities may violate the Legislative Vesting Clause by allowing private entities to exercise government power.“
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Oldham today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Andrew Oldham
Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
600 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
