House Votes to Terminate Trump's National Emergency
Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash joined with Democrats to oppose the president's power grab.
Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash joined with Democrats to oppose the president's power grab.
The strongest legal argument against Trump's attempt to use emergency powers to build the wall is that declaring an emergency does not authorize him to spend money and condemn property for that purpose. But he also lacks grounds to declare an emergency in the first place.
Congress seems to have authorized this end run around its spending power. Can it do that?
"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional power."
Bargaining over policy is supposed to be frustrating. That's a feature, not a bug, of limited government.
My 2015 critique of Presidents Day is, if anything, even more relevant four years later.
A variety of legal experts weigh in on the subject, including me. Most conclude Trump may have the authority to declare an emergency, but not to spend funds and seize property for the wall.
Under a little-known regulation that dates back to the 1930s, the president has legal power over electronic transmissions.
There is no good justification for what the president is doing. Republicans and conservatives need to call him out on it.
Plus: Congress forgets to fund the First Step Act, The New York Times chastises smug politicians over Amazon, and what if the U.S. were 100 city-states?
A summary of the reasons why Trump lacks the power to use emergency powers to build his border wall, and why it would cause great harm and set a dangerous precedent if he did. Other than that, it's a great idea!
There are dueling bills in front of Congress, both backed by Republicans. One would expand Trump's tariff authority, while the other would check it.
But Amash's reaction wasn't all positive.
Plus: New York's CBD-foods crackdown, Laura Loomer gets booted from PayPayl, and more hits from last night's speech.
He was off script, and he probably hasn't checked with his ultra-restrictionist White House aide Stephen Miller.
"The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican Agenda or a Democrat Agenda. It is the agenda of the American People."
The president talks a good game about driving into the future, but his eyes are glued to the rear-view mirror.
Or the $22 trillion (and counting) national debt. Or the entitlement programs that will continue adding to them.
The president proposed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan in his previous State of the Union address.
Sanders is an avowed democratic socialist.
Ending the spread of HIV is within our reach, but the administration's approach to opioid abuse is a problem.
But there's a long way to go before patients have control over their own medical care.
"America is a Nation that believes in redemption."
The president's speech was a mixed bag on foreign policy.
But she provided very little evidence to back up her claims.
The Last Word is what every politician wants. It's better in boozy form.
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Hewitt delivers the L.P.'s prebuttal to tonight's SOTU, while the L.A. Times asks whether Hewitt can "make a fringe party mainstream."
"Why is he talking over the black woman our party chose to speak for us?"
The president has devoted himself to a pointless, self-defeating project.
The way the travel ban policy has been implemented both before and after the Supreme Court's decision further underscores the magnitude of the Justices' mistake.
The former Starbucks CEO is getting dragged by liberals and progressives because he is talking about debt and spending in ways they don't like.
The op ed explains why this option is not legal - and why it would set a dangerous precedent if the president succeeded in doing it.
The former president radically flipped the conventional wisdom about dealing with political enemies, legal issues, and impeachment.
The shutdown may force the government to cancel the State of the Union.
The criminal justice system failed four black men after a white woman accused them of rape.
They correctly warn it would set a dangerous precedent that could be abused by future presidents, including liberal Democrats.
Republicans embrace presidential authoritarianism, continuing a foul bipartisan tradition of legislating immigration through the executive branch.
The op ed was published yesterday in the New York Daily News, but may be even more relevant today.
She's the highest-profile candidate to jump in.
A case to watch for both criminal justice reformers and for critics of executive overreach.
The administration usurps Congress by redefining machine guns.
A presidential derangement syndrome for all seasons
He has manufactured a fake border crisis to justify an illicit power grab.
At least one Republican congressman agrees.
From the moment he started his improbable run for higher office, Donald Trump has stripped bare all pretensions that politics is about more than "winning."