Executive Branch
Biden Administration Extends CDC Eviction Moratorium Until June 30 - the Legal Battle Over it Will Continue
The new order is similar to the old, but includes an extensive section defending the measure on public health grounds.
The CDC Keeps Extending Its Illegal Eviction Ban
The agency will be extending its controversial eviction moratorium through the end of June.
Is More Presidential Power Necessary in the Modern World? A Soho Forum Debate
Stanford University's Terry Moe and the Cato Institute's Gene Healy debate giving fast-track authority to U.S. presidents.
Should U.S. Presidents Have Fast-Track Authority to Get Things Done?
A Soho Forum debate on expanding or restricting presidential powers.
743 Years and 3 Months. 117 Years. 51 Years. Why Are These Men's Sentences So Long?
For possessing a gun while committing a crime—even when no one is killed—too many defendants are slammed with sentences decades or even centuries longer than justice demands.
My New Washington Post op ed on Biden, Syria, and War Powers
I argue that the recent air strike was legal, but overall US military intervention in Syria still lacks required congressional authorization. Biden may be trying to change that; but history gives reason for skepticism.
Biden Indicates Openness to Replacing War Authorizations with "Narrow and Specific" Framework
This initiative might help restore congressional control over war authorization. But there is reason for skepticism that it will pan out.
The Constitution and Biden's Syria Air Strike
The strike was probably legal (as were similar small-scale strikes by Trump). But there are serious constitutional problems with the overall US military presence in Syria.
The State of the Legal Struggle Over the CDC Eviction Moratorium
Two district court decisions have upheld the moratorium against various challenges, while one has ruled against it. The legal battle may be just beginning.
Rand Paul, Ron Wyden Want To End Endless National Emergencies
Under a bill the two senators reintroduced on Friday, all presidential emergency declarations would expire after 72 hours unless Congress votes to allow them to continue.
Biden Revokes Trump's Coronavirus Immigration Bans [Updated with a correction]
This action brings to an end a period when the US was more closed off to legal immigration than at any other time in the nation's history.
Can a Former President Be Prosecuted for Conduct for which He Was Impeached but not Convicted?
A 2000 OLC memo suggests the answer is "yes."
On This Presidents Day, Stop Worshiping the Imperial Presidency
Presidents aren't saints. They aren't monarchs. They aren't celebrities. And they aren't your friends.
Can the Secretary of Education Really Wave a Magic Wand and Erase All Our Student Loans?
This is probably not what Lyndon B. Johnson had in mind.
Biden's Orders Continue the Presidency's Slide Toward Elective Monarchy
If the refusal of lawmakers to enact a president's policies is justification for unilateral executive action, then a slide toward elective monarchy is inevitable.
Presidential Mercy Is a Woefully Inadequate Remedy for Injustice
The controversy over Trump’s pardons and commutations highlights longstanding problems with clemency.
How COVID-19 Made School Choice a Priority
Out with the CDC and teachers unions, in with school choice for everyone.
Changing Litigating Positions at the Solicitor General's Office
An interesting question of institutional norms
Will Democrats Embrace the Imperial Presidency Now That Their Guy Is in Charge?
Partisans who abandon constitutional principles because they prove inconvenient are in for a rude surprise when the other team wins.
Biden Issues At Least 15 Executive Orders and Actions on Day One
Plus: Columbia University neuroscientist defends heroin use, Cuomo plan would still criminalize growing or delivering marijuana, and more...
One of Biden's First Actions In Office Will be To Exercise Powers He Admits He Doesn't Have
Biden's willingness to extend a nationwide eviction moratorium, while declining to mandate masks nationwide, demonstrates a worrying inconsistency in his views on presidential powers.
Biden's Revival of Trump's Eviction Moratorium is at Odds with His Position on the Legality of a National Mask Mandate
Biden correctly recognizes he doesn't have the authority to impose a general national mask mandate. The same reasoning shows the nationwide eviction ban is also illegal.
Biden's Inauguration Was Small and Quiet. Good.
The cult of the imperial U.S. presidency has come to feel like a national religion.
Lil Wayne, Steve Bannon, and Some Drug War Victims Pardoned, but No Assange, Snowden, or Ulbricht
Plus: Pelosi wants 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol attack, MyPillow drama, and more...
Freeing People Who Don't Belong in Prison Is Praiseworthy, No Matter Trump's Motives
The president's final batch of clemency actions includes commutations for dozens of nonviolent drug offenders.
Biden's Mask Mandate Retreat Is a Hopeful Sign
The president acknowledges that there are limits to executive power, even during a public health emergency.
Can President Trump Pardon Himself?
The Constitution's words, history, and structure suggest the best answer is no. He can't plead, "I beg my pardon."
Biden's Recovery Plan Would Extend the Federal Government's Extraordinary Eviction Ban Through September 2021
Eviction bans were enacted as an emergency public health measure. They’re quickly becoming a permanent policy.
Pelosi Says Congress Is 'Prepared' To Impeach Trump Again Unless Pence Invokes 25th Amendment
In a Thursday afternoon announcement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.) said Trump committed "an act of sedition" by inciting a riot on Wednesday afternoon.
A Qualified Defense of Impeaching Trump Again
I supported the previous impeachment of Trump, and would be happy to see him impeached and convicted now. But before proceeding, we should carefully consider how effective a new impeachment effort is likely to be.
Trump Wasn't a Dictator, but He Played One on TV
The 45th president busted norms left and right. But the abuse of executive power didn't start and won't end with him.
Congress Overrides Trump Veto of Defense Bill that Includes Tight Constraints on Use of "Emergency" Powers to Divert Military Construction Funds to the Border Wall and Other Projects
This would prevent repetition of some of the shenanigans Trump has used to divert funds for his border wall project.
Will President Biden Have Greater Control Over Independent Agencies than His Predecessors?
A newly released OLC opinion asserts the White House can require independent agencies to comply with Executive Orders on regulatory review.
How Biden Can Terminate Trump's Border Wall Project - And Save Money and Protect Property Rights in the Process
Joe Biden can easily stop further work on the wall, protect property owners against further takings of private property, and save money in the process. Additional steps may be tougher, but are still worth considering.
Trump's Pattern of Self-Serving Pardons Continues
President Trump's use of the pardon power confirms Anti-Federalist fears more than did his predecessors'.
What Joe Biden Can Learn From Studying Presidential History
A new book holds valuable lessons for the president-elect.
Trump Pardons 26 More, Including Paul Manafort and Roger Stone
The list also included several drug war victims.
White House Christmas Ornaments
Politics ruining your holidays? Now you can pay for the privilege.
Biden Acknowledges Constitutional Limits to the Power of the Presidency
That’s a rare position for modern White House residents, and not necessarily a popular one with the public.
Trump's Latest Round of Pardons Includes George Papadopoulos, GOP Congressmen, Blackwater Guards
Full pardons were given to the four contractors convicted of murdering Iraqis in a firefight in Baghdad.
Trump Outlaws Ugly Federal Buildings
Plus: House OKs bloated $1.4 trillion spending package, new Amash bills aim to protect asylum seekers and immigrant detainees, and more...
Justin Amash Introduces Bill To End Forever National Emergencies
Current law can allow the president to route around Congress indefinitely.
The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is an Assault on the First Amendment
Though journalists tend to despise the WikiLeaks founder, his fate could impact the future of their profession.
Former Judge Michael Luttig on Why the Pardon Power Does Not Encompass Self-Pardons
A pardon is something granted, like a gift, and it is presumed one cannot grant something to themselves.
Another problem with self-pardons
A "self-pardon" might bring about exactly the prosecution it seeks to avoid.
The Pardon Power May Be Broad, But that Does Not Mean a Self-Pardon Would Be Legit
President Trump pardoned a turkey and an agent of Turkey. Will he give himself a lame duck pardon next?
Will Anybody Besides Michael Flynn Get Mercy from Lame Duck Trump?
The president has the worst record for clemency in modern history.
