George Mason Panel on the Legal Issues Raised by the Conflict in Libya
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...
View ArticleStripping 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...
View ArticleThe 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...
View ArticleA War Over War Powers?
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...
View ArticleThe Constitutionality of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction...
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...
View ArticleDebate on the Legality of the Libya Intervention at the University of Akron...
This Wednesday at 12:15 PM, I will be debating the legality of the Libya intervention at the University of Akron Law School with Akron law professor Wilson Huhn. I previously wrote about these issues...
View ArticleWar Powers Suit Dismissed
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton dismissed Kucinich v. Obama, a suit filed by ten members of Congress alleging that President Obama’s use of military force in Libya was unlawful as...
View ArticleA Recess Appointment for Cordray
The AP is reporting that President Obama will give former Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray a recess appointment today to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Board. Cordray was nominated to the...
View ArticlePassport Dispute Does Not Present “Political Question”
In non-mandate news, the Supreme Court issued two merits opinions today, including Zivotofsky v. Clinton, a challenge to the State Department’s refusal to follow a federal statute directing the federal...
View ArticleWhite House Asserts Executive Privilege as Contempt of Congress Vote Looms
I have not been following the “Fast and Furious” scandal all that closely (or even much at all), but this seems like an interesting development for those who are interested in separation of powers...
View ArticleFlip-Flops on Executive Privilege
From Charlie Savage’s NYT report on President Obama’s assertion of Executive Privilege as the basis for the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over internal agency documents concerning the “Fast and...
View ArticleSuit Filed Challenging Constitutionality of CFPB
The State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, the 60-Plus Association, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed suit against the Consumer Financial Protection Board alleging that the CFPB, as...
View ArticleNext step: Repeal the individual mandate because it is unconstitutional
McCulloch v. Maryland had a very good day at the Supreme Court yesterday, with NFIB relying on and applying McCulloch‘s rules for when an enactment violates the Necessary and Proper Clause. What...
View ArticleD.C. Circuit Holds Copyright Royalty Board Unconstitutional
This morning, in Intercollegiate Broadcast System v. Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit consisting of Judges Garland, Griffith, and Senior...
View ArticleThree States Join Lawsuit Against Title II of Dodd-Frank
A news release from the Competitive Enterprise Institute notes that the attorneys general of Michigan, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have joined their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of...
View ArticleFilibuster Suit Dismissed
Yesterday, Judge Emmet Sullivan dismissed Common Cause’s suit attempting to have the use of the filibuster declared unconstitutional. As I explained here, this was always a futile suit. Even if one...
View ArticleThe Trillion Dollar Coin and the Problem of Circulation
“Everyone loves money. That is why they call it MONEY.” – David Mamet. The trillion-dollar coin is a proposal to avoid the debt ceiling through a loophole in a federal statute that authorizes the U.S....
View ArticleStates Pile on Against Dodd-Frank
Eight more states have joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of various provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The states are Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska,...
View ArticleEvaluating the REINS Act
The NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy has published my article “Placing Reins on Regulations: Assessing the Proposed REINS Act” in its latest issue. The arguments I make in this piece...
View ArticleIs the Library of Congress a Legislative Department or an Executive Department?
A very interesting question, raised in Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Copyright Royalty Board, a certiorari petition now pending before the Court. Profs. John Duffy (Virginia), Peter...
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