3 Areas Where the Courts Pushed Back Against Trump's Attempts To Avoid Judicial Review in 2025
The president asserted broad powers to deport people, impose tariffs, and deploy the National Guard based on his own unilateral determinations.
Executive Branch
Cato Institute Looking to Hire an Executive Power Scholar
An opportunity to work at the nation's leading libertarian think tank.
How Politicians and Cops Tried To Dodge Responsibility in 2025
Presidents, legislators, and police officers were desperate to blame anyone but themselves.
These Progressives Seek to 'Disempower' the Courts
Is unfettered majority rule actually a good idea for the left to embrace?
Refusing To Let Trump Deploy the National Guard in Chicago, SCOTUS Adds a New Wrinkle To the Debate
The justices suggested the president is misinterpreting "the regular forces," a key phrase in the statute on which he is relying.
Mamdani Needs a Maximalist Vision of Mayoral Power To Achieve His Goals. Lina Khan Has a Plan.
As one of Mamdani's top advisers, Khan has been making a list of all the "authorities that the mayor can unilaterally deploy."
Trump's Cruel and Illegal Expanded Travel Ban
A recent White House proclamation further expands his previous travel bans, to the point of barring nearly all legal migration from some 40 countries. Legally, it further underscores that Trump is claiming virtually unlimited executive power to restrict immigration,a claim that runs afoul of the nondelegation doctrine.
Trump's Designation of Fentanyl As a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' Is a Drug-Fueled Delusion
The executive order does not accomplish much in practical terms, but it jibes with the president's conflation of drug trafficking with violent aggression.
Cannavictory
Plus: Polymarket bets on when killers will be apprehended, how locking up phones saves high school, and more...
Trump Claims He's Turning America Around. He's Really Doubling Down on Executive Overreach.
From immigration crackdowns to trade policy, the Trump administration is increasingly centralizing power in Washington, D.C.
A Judicial Solution for Presidential Overreach and Congressional Abdication
The Supreme Court should take a page from its own history.
Some Answers to Justice Barrett's Questions in Trump v. Slaughter
Why the Executive Power Vesting clause of Article II compels a holding that the President has the power to remove Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter.
SCOTUS Sounds Ready To Let Trump Fire FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter
Plus: It's the final day of Reason's webathon.
D.C. Circuit Upholds Presidential Removal of MSPB and NLRB Members
On the eve of Trump v. Slaughter, the D.C. Circuit offers a way to distinguish Humphrey's Executor.
The Third Circuit's Curious Opinion on the "De Facto" U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey
The Circuit's decision appears to invite the workaround of dividing responsibilities between two persons in the U.S. Attorney's Office, who could then each exercise half of that Office's powers.
Third Circuit Affirms Disqualification of Alina Habba
The first appellate court to consider the Trump Administration's aggressive approach to U.S. Attorney appointments.
McCarthy: "'We Intended the Strike to Be Lethal' Is Not a Defense"
NRO's Andrew McCarthy on why strike on defenseless survivors of strike on drug boat was "at best, a war crime under federal law."
Trump Pardoned Gobble and Waddle. He Should Pardon More Deserving People, Too.
The president loves freeing people. His controversial clemency grants should not obscure the fact that the pardon power is incredibly important.
Trump's Habitual Charges of 'Treason' Reflect His Authoritarian Impulses
The president’s reaction to a supposedly "seditious" video illustrates his tendency to portray criticism of him as a crime.
An Antidote to the FDR Cult
A new biography presents Franklin Roosevelt as one of the greatest scoundrels of American political history.
The Democratic Party Is Offering a False Choice Between Socialism and Technocracy
By looking to the past, Democrats could chart a pro-freedom blueprint for their party’s future.
Mike Johnson Wanted Congress To Reclaim Power Over Tariffs—in 2019
Now, under Johnson's leadership, the House has changed its rules to make it even harder for lawmakers to signal their opposition to Trump's tariffs.
Trump's Venezuela Escalation Could Destroy MAGA, Warns Rand Paul
Blowing up boats won’t stop drugs—but it could sink Trump.
Rand Paul: Congress Is 'Afraid of the President'
Sen. Rand Paul explains why he wants the Epstein files released, lays out his case against Trump’s tariffs and military strikes in Venezuela, and argues that he and Rep. Thomas Massie are the last voices in Congress still committed to libertarian ideals.
The 'Emergency' That Demanded Huge Tariffs on Swiss Imports Is Now Over. So What Was the Emergency?
Trump's decision to reduce the tariffs on Swiss goods came just days after a Swiss delegation lavished the president with a variety of expensive gifts.
Less Indictable Than a Ham Sandwich
They say a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. But failing to get indictments has been a hallmark of the second Trump administration.
The Art of the Presidential Health Cover-Up
Since long before Biden and Trump, presidents have been going to great lengths to keep their medical problems from the public.
The Alien Enemies Act and the Major Questions Doctrine
The Trump administration's claims that illegal migration and drug smuggling qualify as an "invasion" or a "predatory incursion" under the Alien Enemies Act go against the major questions doctrine.
Trump Pardons Mountain Runner Michelino Sunseri, Who Was Prosecuted for Using an Unapproved Trail
The decision is consistent with the president's avowed concerns about "overcriminalization in federal regulations."
This Foreign Policy Precedent Might Aid Trump's Tariffs at SCOTUS
For the justices, the question is just how much deference the president deserves.
Is Trump a Socialist?
Donald Trump’s new stock-buying strategy isn’t socialism, but it is a step toward a government-controlled economy.
Justices Don't Buy Tariff Argument
Plus: Outrage at Heritage, air traffic might get throttled, and more...
Trump's Economic Fallacies Are Legally Relevant in His Tariff Case
Trade deficits are not a "national emergency," and the president's import taxes won’t reduce them.
Dick Cheney, Vice President and Self-Described 'Darth Vader,' Was a Champion of the War State
The former vice president liked being compared to the supervillain as a joke. But he had seriously villainous effects on millions of people in real life.
Trump's Tariffs and John Roberts' Credibility
Learning Resources v. Trump will test both executive power and judicial fidelity.
Illinois Is Taking the Feds to Court Over 'Trump's Invasion' of Chicago
"The Trump Administration's Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.
Trump's Tariff Tantrum Proves He Shouldn't Have That Power
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in November on whether Trump's use of tariffs is constitutional.
The Government Shutdown Isn't Stopping Trump From Amassing 'Emergency' Powers
As of mid-2025, there were roughly 50 simultaneous national emergencies in force.
Trump Dares Congress To Take Its War Powers Seriously in Venezuela
The president bet that no one would stop him from land attacks in Venezuela. And Congress hasn’t given him any reason to think otherwise.
Merkley's Marathon Address Decried Trump's 'Authoritarian Grip'—But Executive Overreach Didn't Start With Him
Trump’s presidency may have amplified executive power, but unless lawmakers roll back those powers—and the bloated government behind them—the next administration will do the same.
What the Japanese Internment Case Teaches About Judicial Deference to Presidential Power
Long-ago debates about executive authority are not as distant as they might initially seem.
9th Circuit Court Upholds Trump's Deployment of National Guard in Portland
The decision “erodes core constitutional principles, including sovereign States’ control over their States’ militias and the people’s First Amendment rights,” Judge Susan P. Graber warned in her dissent.
Trump Allegedly Misidentified a Colombian Fisherman as a Venezuelan 'Narcoterrorist'
The potential for deadly error underlines the lawlessness of the president’s bloodthirsty anti-drug strategy.
On National Guard Deployments, Trump Tells SCOTUS His Power Is 'Unreviewable'
Will the Supreme Court grant Trump the overwhelming judicial deference he demands?
Does Argentina's Bailout Prove Libertarians Wrong?
Plus: the “No Kings” protests, Trump pays troop salaries during government shutdown, and the continued bombing of drug boats in Venezuela
