Executive Functions

A Substack newsletter devoted to analysis of presidential and broader executive power issues, by Bob Bauer and @jacklgoldsmith.

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

My take on the War Powers Resolution debate. Trump's interpretation is the latest in a long line of opportunistic interpretations of the statute. Yet the WPR is not, yet, irrelevant.

https://t.co/nrpJA3Uqdk

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

Bob Bauer writes that Kash Patel's libel lawsuits seem to run afoul of the DOJ’s Standards of Conduct. https://t.co/xlv2Ztfq2m

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Bob Bauer on the 25th Amendment Under Vice Presidential Control: https://t.co/d4rBNP4e0J

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Trump’s harsh reactions toward the Supreme Court's tariff decision were a “gift to the Chief Justice,” according to @whignewtons.
https://t.co/UqSB3cQmSy
https://t.co/nW61o2nfEc

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Kavanaugh v. Gorsuch, according to @whignewtons.
https://t.co/VR7eJdaW0U
https://t.co/1jDHmOGRjU

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

My discussion with @whignewtons (Sarah Isgur) about her great new book about the Supreme Court, "The Last Branch Standing." We focus on the Court's relationship with the Trump administration and its stance toward presidential power more generally.

https://t.co/753m9hvWlP

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

Bob Bauer writes on potential reform to help protect against a DOJ that answers reliably to a president’s personal and political demands. https://t.co/Siorr2nfYo

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Interested in editing me? Executive Functions is hiring a paid full-time executive editor.

https://t.co/lAR74VgF8e

[Robert Wright @robertwrighter]

Good point from Bob Bauer and @jacklgoldsmith in their @Exec_Functions Substack: If Trump had sought Congress's OK for war, he might have seen more of its perils in the course of arguing for it. Via @NonZeroNews: https://t.co/JxoOSqIcl6

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

EF is hiring! We are seeking a paid full-time executive editor to start mid-July. https://t.co/N0lCOcpCC6

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Me and Bob Bauer: One month in, Epic Fury is the second most consequential unauthorized presidential uses of force in all of American history. It’s also a new nadir in the decline of Congress’s check on presidential war.
https://t.co/mvqZuSjLr0

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Me on how Trump is diminishing the Inspector General corps, with an assist from Congress, especially the Senate. “The IG story is part of a larger tale of Congress giving up its prerogatives and supporting Trump’s unitary executive despite its abuses.”

https://t.co/TPJO8KTuLa

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

Bob Bauer on Robert Mueller's passing: Professionalism and integrity are no match for the forces of polarization. https://t.co/7bn8FgvDJN

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

A conversation with @CassSunstein on his new book, why the executive is the most dangerous branch, unitary executive theory in light of the Trump v. Slaughter oral argument, and MQD after the tariffs decision.
https://t.co/eHnaxxXMRP

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

Bob Bauer on the perilous war over legal ethics in government and politics: On its current course, it cannot end well. https://t.co/aSAluNIkAF

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

Bob Bauer proposes Congress pass a joint resolution stating its constitutional interpretation of presidential war powers—an approach that could challenge expansive executive war-making claims when a vote to stop the Iran conflict at this stage will fail: https://t.co/54wEutrvH7

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Asked by NYT “if there were any limits on his global powers,” Trump said “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

I’m afraid those are the only constraints on Trump’s use of nuclear weapons in Iran.

https://t.co/gtJhKMBrIw

[Executive Functions @Exec_Functions]

Bob Bauer analyzes DOJ's about-face on defending Trump's law firm executive orders: "If it was possible to bring even more discredit to this attack on the legal profession, the administration managed to do it over a span of less than 24 hours."
https://t.co/LmbDM9SOpb

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

How might the resource allocations and career official firings in DOJ/FBI and DHS impact efforts now to protect the homeland from what USG acknowledges are heightened threats related to the Iran war? Full conversation here. https://t.co/DMdbL0QfnF

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

Homeland Security in a Time of War with Iran: My discussion with Biden Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on how the U.S. government would normally prepare for domestic threats during periods of heightened risk. https://t.co/EC9QnjwvNE