In a post at Slate, Professor Jed Shugerman (Fordham) challenged the historical foundations of Justice Scalia’s dissent in Morrison v. Olson: It’s worth, however, delving deeper into Scalia’s historical misunderstandings of “complete” executive control over prosecution. Scalia’s dissent in Morrison is simply inconsistent with its originalist commitments and not worth resuscitating for that fact alone. In this post,…
A presidential policy (which is what the deal is) is just a policy. It isn't, and constitutionally cannot be, a law.
In the New York Times, Saikrishna Prakash and John Yoo: Don’t Prosecute Trump. Impeach Him. As to prosecution, they argue: The Constitution imposes on the president the duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” which vests the authority to oversee all federal law enforcement. As Alexander Hamilton observed in Federalist 70, “good government”…
Constitutionally, war and peace aren’t the president’s decision.
I haven’t gotten too involved in the so-called “travel ban” executive order – as TAC has been up to our ears in our work on other projects. However, I was just reading the Ninth Circuit’s order affirming the temporary restraining order and was struck – dead in my tracks – by this: The Government contends…
The exercise of broad executive powers have been pushing the United States into the abyss of despotism for decades. It is often suggested that the president’s first obligation is to protect a singular “American people,” a nebulous and fallacious construct in the first place, from foreign danger. On the contrary, no such depiction can be…
In his first full day in office, Pres. Trump signed a number of executive orders. His actions have rekindled fierce debate on the legitimacy of EOs. Here’s a quick overview of the president’s authority to issue such orders. A lot of people seem to adopt one of two extremes. On the one hand, many argue…
In his first full day in office, Pres. Trump signed a number of executive orders. His actions have rekindled fierce debate on the legitimacy of EOs. Here’s a quick overview of the president’s authority to issue such orders. A lot of people seem to adopt one of two extremes. On the one hand, many argue…
People often say they want a strong president who can get things done. But that’s pretty much the exact opposite of what the founding fathers set up under the Constitution.
Because it seems more important now, here is a recap of my assessment of the President’s ability to withdraw from some controversial international agreements (see previous post here). (1) The Iran nuclear deal (the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” or JCPOA). This agreement is nonbinding. The Obama administration has specifically described it in that way,…