The recent revelation about President Trump’s dealings with Ukrainian President Zelensky have rightly provoked serious concern, especially the possibility that Trump blocked nearly $400 million in military aid to secure help for his re-election campaign .
This has intensified support for impeachment. But taking action against President Trump would only be a partial solution to the problem.Continue Reading Addressing the Abuse of Presidential Authority
With his decision late last week, to weaken regulation of methane emissions, President Trump has extended his efforts to reverse the environmental policies of the Obama (and earlier) Administrations.
These reversals provoke considerable concern about the implications for climate change. They also reflect a serious defect in our winner-take-all system of government. When one party seizes control of the executive power, it can drive policies in one direction. And when the other party regains power, it can reverse course and take policy in the other direction. This high volatility in policy serves the country and the world poorly.Continue Reading Trump, Obama, and the Problem of Unstable Policy
While the Constitution’s system of checks and balances often breaks down, giving the White House too much power (see here and here), recent action by California reflects the important role that the states play in containing presidential action.
Continue Reading Presidential Power and Pushback from the States
It seems that President Trump has a unique ability to push people apart—launching trade wars, disrupting international agreements, or attacking immigrants and political opponents. He’s split family and other personal relationships. But even with a new person in the Oval Office, we’ll still be highly polarized. It’s not so much the president who is polarizing, it’s the presidency.
Continue Reading The Polarizing Presidency
Can California really require candidates to disclose their tax returns to qualify for the presidential primary ballot? As with many constitutional questions, the answer is uncertain. Courts could come down either way on this one.
Continue Reading President Trump’s Tax Returns
While Democratic members of Congress are still debating whether to begin the impeachment process, people watching the questioning of former special counsel Robert Mueller yesterday could easily have thought they were viewing an impeachment proceeding.
Continue Reading We Need More Investigation, Less Posturing from Congress
According to the New York Times, it is unlikely that federal prosecutors will bring any other charges related to the “hush money” paid by President Trump to conceal his affairs with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.
That’s the right call. Indeed, as I’ve written before, prosecutors never should have filed charges against Trump lawyer Michael Cohen over the payments.Continue Reading Time to End the Trump Hush Money Investigations
In siding with President Trump in a lawsuit over his financial conflicts of interest, a federal court of appeals invoked a controversial legal principle that undermines the judiciary’s checking and balancing role. According to the court, Maryland and the District of Columbia lacked “standing” to sue the President. The court therefore dismissed the suit, without deciding whether the President was breaking the law. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has invoked the standing doctrine many times to block the public from holding Presidents and other government officials accountable for their actions.
Continue Reading Judicial Abdication and the Imperial Presidency
While President Trump regularly shatters political norms, and playing to his base rather than appealing to a broader electorate seems to fit his unorthodox style, he in fact is not that different from his predecessors in remaining loyal to his core supporters.
Continue Reading Playing to the Political Base
Today’s New York Times reports that another member of Congress, Katie Porter (D-CA), has called for impeachment, citing the “constitutional crisis” provoked by President Donald Trump. According to Porter, echoing statements made by Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and other members of Congress, we have a crisis because of Trump’s misconduct, especially his failure to comply with congressional requests for documents and other information.
At some point, Trump’s disregard of the law may amount to a constitutional crisis, but we’re not there yet. In fact, with respect to the requests for information, the President is acting in many ways as the Founding Fathers expected.Continue Reading Constitutional Crisis—Not