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.
This initiative might help restore congressional control over war authorization. But there is reason for skepticism that it will pan out.
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.
Two district court decisions have upheld the moratorium against various challenges, while one has ruled against it. The legal battle may be just beginning.
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.
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.
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.
Partisans who abandon constitutional principles because they prove inconvenient are in for a rude surprise when the other team wins.
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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.
The president acknowledges that there are limits to executive power, even during a public health emergency.
The Constitution's words, history, and structure suggest the best answer is no. He can't plead, "I beg my pardon."
Eviction bans were enacted as an emergency public health measure. They’re quickly becoming a permanent policy.
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.
The 45th president busted norms left and right. But the abuse of executive power didn't start and won't end with him.
This would prevent repetition of some of the shenanigans Trump has used to divert funds for his border wall project.
A newly released OLC opinion asserts the White House can require independent agencies to comply with Executive Orders on regulatory review.
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.
President Trump's use of the pardon power confirms Anti-Federalist fears more than did his predecessors'.
That’s a rare position for modern White House residents, and not necessarily a popular one with the public.
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A pardon is something granted, like a gift, and it is presumed one cannot grant something to themselves.
Also: Thanksgiving tips and reasons for gratitude, from The Reason Roundtable
"It's time that we start thinking about reining in the powers that we've let slip to this institution," says the Cato Institute's Gene Healy.
Trump claimed the power to issue a national eviction moratorium during COVID. Could that pave the way for the mask mandates Biden clearly wants?
President-elect Joe Biden has promised to fully reinstate DACA. But such a move will surely be challenged in court. Here's an easy way to reduce the risk that such challenges might succeed.
All five cases were recommended to the White House by commutation recipient Alice Marie Johnson.
The implications of this move are as yet unclear.
As a professor, Judge Barrett expressed a skepticism of Executive Power that is uncommon among Republican nominees.
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The divided 2-1 decision is the first court of appeals ruling to rule on the legality of a key part of the funding diversion effort.
Giving one man control of all nuclear weapons is a mistake.
Whitmer helped spark a national debate over the limits of executive power.
The court concludes that the ban is illegal in large part because the broad authority claimed by the president violates the nondelegation doctrine.
Some possible answers to these questions from leading experts on the subject.
The opinion was written by prominent conservative Judge David Sentelle.
Under the broad terms of a 1934 federal law, the president has the authority to seize emergency control of almost any electronic device in the country.
The Trump presidency has been a stress test for maximalist theories of presidential power.
If only that signaled a broader respect for legal limits on executive power.
There’s nothing good about censoring communication platforms citizens want to use.
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A week after being sued over his arbitrary COVID-19 policy, Gov. Charlie Baker says he will allow arcades to reopen.
These proposals augment those made in Paul Rosenzweig and Vishnu Kannan's important recent article on the subject.
For the moment, the executive "memorandum" is long on rhetoric, but short on actual action. If it ever does lead to action, it could be yet another attack on federalism and separation of powers.
The Trump administration's new nationwide eviction moratorium provokes a backlash from some congressional Republicans.
It's a power grab that could undermine federalism and separation of powers, and imperil property rights.
"I know what moral panics look like; they look kind of like this."
Both major parties defend the Constitution only when it's convenient.