Some have argued that it is futile or pointless for the House to consider impeaching President Trump again because it would be impossible (and perhaps unfair) to have a rushed trial prior to he leaves office on January 20. These arguments are understandable, but they are also wrong. The claim that Congress loses the power […]
Peter Huber passed away last week. He was a brilliant thinker, incisive commentator, attorney, and young reader’s biography of the latter. He was an incredibly impressive person. In City Journal, Mark Mills writes: Peter Huber, a long-time senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute, a founding partner in a successful Washington, D.C. law firm; a polymath and […]
The Senate is split 50-50, leaving the tie-breaking vote in the hands of the Vice President. As I discussed here, this arrangement is not a recipe for stable control of the chamber. Accordingly, the last time this happened (in 2001), there was a power-sharing arrangement that divided authority and resources more evenly than occurs when […]
I would like to offer a brief response to my co-blogger Joshua Blackman and Seth Tillman’s post arguing that Congress may not impeach and remove President Trump on the grounds of incitement for his remarks on January 6 preceding and during the electoral count in Congress. I think this claim is wrong both as a […]
Democrats prevailed in both Georgia Senate runoff elections this week. Once those election results are certified, there will be 50 Senators caucusing with each party in the Senate (as two independents—Sens. Sanders and King—caucus with the Democrats). This has happened before—most recently in 2001—but it is quite unusual. The general presumption is that a 50-50 […]
Yesterday, the newly elected House of Representatives’ held its organizational session to recognize the credentials of those elected, select a Speaker, and adopt rules for the counting presidential electors, among other start-of-session matters. During the session, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) filed an objection to seating those members purportedly elected in states in which the Trump […]
One of the more innovative constitutional theories currently advanced by those trying to find a way that President Trump may remain in office is that Vice President Mike Pence has the authority to reject slates of presidential electors from individual states. This theory is advanced in litigation filed by several members of the House against […]
For decades, Executive Orders requiring executive branch agencies to submit draft regulatory proposals to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) have exempted independent agencies. A lingering question has been whether this is because the White House lacks the authority to impose such requirements on independent agencies, because the Executive Branch sought […]
The Obama Administration was notoriously slow to make judicial nominations. Even where there was no need to consult with home-state Senators (as with D.C. vacancies), the White House put forward nominees at a tepid pace, resulting in fewer and slower confirmations than one might have expected. The nomination pipeline was rarely full, so it was […]
