The Committee, the Wikipedia entry labeled “United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction” but redirected from “Super Congress” tells us (as of the time I write this), is an illegal, unconstitutional joint select committee, created by the Budget Control Act of 2011, enacted on August 2, 2011. The Act was intended to consolidate […]
Archive | Separation of Powers
A War Over War Powers?
By Jonathan H. Adler on June 15, 2011 6:13 pm in Executive Branch, Separation of Powers, War on Terror
GWU law professor Jonathan Turley has filed suit against the Obama Administration on behalf of several members of Congress, including Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC). The complaint alleges that President Obama acted unlawfully by going to war in Libya without Congressional authorization and seeks, among other things, an order that the military […]
The Length of the FBI Director’s Term
A federal statute enacted in 1976 — Pub. L. 94-503, quoted in the notes follow 28 U.S.C.A. § 532 — says that the Director of the FBI shall be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for 10 years, and “A Director may not serve more than one ten-year term.” […]
Stripping Congress of its Power of the Purse?
Via Althouse, I learn the following from Jake Tapper: One rider [to the bill] – Section 2262 — de-funds certain White House adviser positions – or “czars.” The president in his signing statement declares that he will not abide by it. “The President has well-established authority to supervise and oversee the executive branch, and to […]
George Mason Panel on the Legal Issues Raised by the Conflict in Libya
By Ilya Somin on April 4, 2011 11:28 pm in Executive Branch, Separation of Powers, War and Armed Conflict
This Thursday, I will be taking part in a panel on the legal issues raised by US intervention in the Libya, sponsored by the George Mason University International Law Society. The panel is entitled “Is There Any Law to Hold Us in Libya?” and will be held at George Mason University School of Law at […]
National Review Symposium on the Constitutionality of the Libya Intervention
By Ilya Somin on March 24, 2011 5:16 pm in Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, Separation of Powers, War and Armed Conflict
National Review has posted a symposium on the constitutionality of the Libya intervention. The symposium includes a large number of legal scholars and commentators, mostly conservative ones, as one would expect from a conservative publication. Interestingly, most of the participants reject the view (advanced by John Yoo and some others in the George W. Bush […]
Does US Military Action Against Gaddafi Require Congressional Authorization?
By Ilya Somin on March 20, 2011 5:36 pm in Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Separation of Powers, War and Armed Conflict
Several liberal Democratic members of Congress are claiming that President Obama’s decision to use force against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi requires congressional authorization: A hard-core group of liberal House Democrats is questioning the constitutionality of U.S. missile strikes against Libya, with one lawmaker raising the prospect of impeachment during a Democratic Caucus conference call on […]
Thoughts on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB
In Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB, a five-justice majority found a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley law unconstitutional, yet left the SarbOx regulatory structure largely intact. With almost surgical precision, the Court erased the limitations on removal of members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), thereby granting petitioners a victory on their constitutional claim […]
Free Enterprise Fund: The Lopez of Separation of Powers Doctrine
I have long thought that if the Court invalidated any provision of Sarbanes-Oxley in Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB, 08-861, it would base its decision on the Act’s dual good-cause removal restrictions for Board members. First, because that was the strongest claim as a matter of doctrine. But also because doing so wouldn’t break much […]