There are plenty of reasons to oppose the cap-and-trade legislation working its way through Congress, but the claim that a “nasty bureaucratic provision” will require “President Obama to act like Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez” is not one of them. The provision at issue — Section 707 in the bill approved by the Senate Environment […]
Archive | Executive Branch
He-Man on Executive Power
By Ilya Somin on November 10, 2009 10:27 pm in Constitutional Theory, Executive Branch, Uncategorized
In one of my recent Constitutional Law classes, I had occasion to quote a much-neglected legal authority: He-Man. Like many presidents, especially in wartime, He-Man claims that he has “fabulous secret powers” and even summarizes his legal position with the immortal words “I have the power.” It’s the best short summary of the late Bush […]
Roundtable on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB
The Vanderbilt Law Review‘s “En Banc” online supplement has published a roundtable on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB, an important separation of powers case the Supreme Court will hear later this term. The case concerns the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, an independent entity appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The […]
Italy Convicts Twenty-three CIA Agents in Absentia
By Kenneth Anderson on November 4, 2009 8:15 pm in Executive Branch, International Law, War on Terror
Unfortunately, I don’t have time to say anything substantive about this now, but AP reports on the conviction of twenty-three CIA agents in absentia in Italy in a trial over an extraordinary rendition. The AP story is unusually detailed for a wire story and bears reading. I am in the middle of something and can’t […]
Left/Right bloggers agree: Economy will be top issue in 2010. Disagree on WH war on Fox
This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers asked “What will be the top two issues in the midterm elections?” Enormous majorities on both the Left and the Right picked “Economy/jobs” as the expected top issue. On the Left, “health care reform” came in second, far ahead of the third-place “deficit/big government.” The issues of Afghanistan […]
Can Obama accept the Nobel Prize without congressional consent?
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Rep. Cliff Stearns, and Rep. Ron Paul say “no,” and have sent a letter to the President asking him to request congressional consent, which they expect would be speedily given. They point to the example of President Theodore Roosevelt, who created a committee, including the Chief Justice, to hold Roosevelt’s Nobel Peace […]
The Greg Craig Watch
The New York Times reports on the continuing speculation over whether White House Counsel Greg Craig is on the way out. As President Obama’s top lawyer, Mr. Craig has been at the center of thorny decisions on closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and revising interrogation and detention policies, problems that have bedeviled the […]
Regulation on the Rise
The Washington Post reports on how the Obama Administration is increasing regulatory efforts on many fronts. There’s no question Obama appointees are more enthusiastic regulators than their Bush counterparts (with the possible exception of those at Homeland Security), but it would be a mistake to place all the credit/blame for increased regulation on the Obama […]
Galston on McChrystal
William Galston, writing on TNR’s The Plank, argues Bruce Ackerman and others are wrong to suggest that General Stanley McChrystal’s public comments somehow threaten the principle of civilian control of the military. Liberal pundits, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and National Security Advisor James Jones are in agreement: General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO […]
More Ackerman on Politicizing the Military
Bruce Ackerman’s weekend Washington Post article criticizing General Stanley McChrystal was not the first time he has raised concerns about the involvement of currently serving military leaders in political debates about national security policy. In 2007, he wrote this article for the Financial Times criticizing comments by Major General Rick Lynch and President Bush’s use […]
Is McChrystal Another MacArthur?
Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman argues in the Washington Post that it was inappropriate for General Stanley McChrystal to announce his preferred Afghanistan strategy and publicly disagree with Vice President Joe Biden. Such statements, Ackerman said, were “a plain violation of the principle of civilian control.” The New America Foundation’s Michael Cohen makes a similar […]
Wittes on Obama’s Detention Policy:
Benjamin Wittes is not happy with President Obama’s approach to detention and Guantanamo Bay. President Obama’s decision not to go to Congress for help in establishing reasonable standards for the continued detention of Guantanamo detainees is a failure of leadership in the project of putting American law on a sound basis for a long-term confrontation […]
Bloggers agree: Health bill likely to pass. Split on Obama foreign policy grade:
This week’s National Journal poll of political bloggers asked “What is the most likely outcome of President Obama’s health care reform initiative?” Ninety-three percent of the Left and 82 percent of the Right expected either “major” or “scaled back” legislation to be enacted in 2009. The Left was roughly split between major and scaled back. I […]