Peter M. Shane
@petermshane.bsky.social
Constitutional and admin law prof. Author, Democracy's Chief Executive (U. Cal. 2022). Podcast host @DemChiefExecPod. @Monthly contributor. Corgi-obsessed.
The headline makes it appear that the column will be a scolding, but it's something much more constructive. I hope Mayor Mamdani, whom I deeply admire, will take the approach Thomas Friedman recommends. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/o...
Opinion | Mamdani’s Netanyahu Stunt Was a Waste of His Talent and Our Time
What if Mamdani actually wanted to be a bridge builder between Israelis and Palestinians, a role for which he has the unique capacity and talent?
nytimes.com
For the Regulatory Review's annual set of essays on the prior Supreme Court Term, I catalogue the FTC removal case's flaws and expand on the opinion's obliviousness to institutional consequence and pretense that this Court's unanimous predecessors were idiots: www.theregreview.org/2026/07/20/s...
Article II Removal Power and the Roberts Court’s Reckless Hubris | The Regulatory Review
In weakening checks on executive power, the Roberts Court overlooks the wisdom of its predecessors.
theregreview.org
Who knows what will come of Trump’s threat to cut off trade with Spain? But we normally run a trade surplus with Spain, so shutting down trade would worsen our balance of payments.
Is it an "own goal" that, by pushing FIFA to allow Folarin Balogun to play yesterday, Trump deprived himself of the opportunity to blame a U.S. loss on Balogun's nonparticipation?
Just as the Atlantic piece saw Slaughter as the triumph of Reaganite unitary executive theory, this places it in the context of other decisions that limit the range and impact of legislative power. After Slaughter, the idea of 3 co-equal branches seems shaky. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/30/t....
The Roberts Court and the Disappearing Congress
In the Slaughter case, the Roberts Court ignored the Founders, discarded precedent, and expanded executive power.
washingtonmonthly.com
My new piece on The Atlantic website identifies yesterday’s opinion in Trump v. Slaughter—the FTC presidential removal case—as the ultimate, longed-for triumph of the Reaganite unitary executive champions. Abuses of power expected shortly. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Ultimate Triumph of the Unitary Executive
A half century ago, a new and radical legal theory emerged. Now it is American law.
theatlantic.com
An administration proud of our diversity, awed by American achievements in art, science, music, and literature, and appreciative of how immigrants have shaped our nation would have put on a grand celebration for our 250th instead of whatever the heck is going on in D.C.
As much as I love this response, @ringwiss.bsky.social, who gets deep into the parliamentary weeds, tracked this and it appears that presentation did not occur Wednesday morning.
ellemm@ellemm.bsky.social · last mo.the rules of presentation have been modified. now the house clerk must place the bill on a golden platter accompanied by an gift suitable for the king. the platter is then carried aloft by a beautiful woman and presented it to the king with a very low curtsy. the clock starts when he insults her.
Serious questions: The NYT is reporting that Johnson "will" deliver the housing bill to the WH and start the clock for signature or veto. But didn't the House Clerk present it to the White House on Wed., morning before Trump called off signing? Didn't that start the clock? @joshchafetz.bsky.social?
Hypothetically: "Justice Alito has four opinions."
Joe Dudek@joedudekjd.bsky.social · last mo.Is there a more cursed sentence than "Justice Alito has three opinions"?
Despite canceling his ceremony, if the "21st Century ROAD to Housing Act" was presented to Trump for signature today (June 24), it will become law (unless vetoed) by July 6 whether or not he signs it. U.S. Const., Art. I, Sec. 7.
Please post a link to the written remarks when available.
Chris Murphy@chrismurphyct.bsky.social · last mo.I will be on the Senate floor giving a comprehensive speech outlining the last 500 days of Trump's dizzying, unprecedented campaign of corruption. We cannot normalize what he is doing. He is stealing from us.
It certainly doesn't reflect well on Trump.
GOLIKEHELLMACHINE@golikehellmachine.com · last mo.i mean, on the one hand, it’s funny, but on the other hand, this shit belongs to us, the money he’s wasted on it belongs to us, the money he’s wasting on guards and fences to try to cover up his failures, all that belongs to us
Regarding the lie that enslaved Africans needed white overseers to teach them how to do stuff: it was the West Africans who taught the whites how to grow rice and indigo, which made South Carolina the wealthiest of the British colonies in North America before the Revolution.
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · last mo.The Manhattan Institute is the home to Chris Rufo, Ilya Shapiro, Heather MacDonald, Abigail Shirer, Ilan Wurman, and more. It's indistinguishable from the Heritage Foundation (derogatory)
Trump, being Trump, could not resist fantasizing about the Italian PM, who apparently is the one G7 leader unprepared to pretend fawning admiration for him. And Trump, being Trump, can't take it when a woman rejects or criticizes him. And thus, once again, is the U.S. embarrassed on the world stage.
The deaths this week of Robert Coles and Gordon Wood have measurably lowered the average intellect of the English-speaking world.
To a narcissist, all attention is experienced as positive.
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 2mo agoTrump on being booed at the NBA Finals: I think it was mostly cheers. It was loud. And it was very enthusiastic
What about Ted Nugent and any number of testosterone-infused bands that turn out to be Nazis?
Mark Hamill@markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhere are Kid Rock & Lee Greenwood when you really need them?
He is the signatory also of the laughably bad OLC opinion asserting the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional. Among its patent flaws are treating the PRA as if enacted as part of Congress's oversight powers and neglecting Congress's explicit Article IV power to regulate government property.
Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 2mo agoT. Elliot Gaiser, the head of OLC, is quickly building up a track record to qualify as one of the true villains of this era. Today, Acting AG Todd Blanche is using OLC to team up with the FCC's Brendan Carr to make it harder for some immigrants to have phones and internet access.
And Trump presents a worst case scenario because he recognizes no difference between the office and himself as a temporary incumbent. He executes only his own will.
Josh Chafetz@joshchafetz.bsky.social · 2mo ago2/ Unitary executive theory, from its inception, has made the mistake of treating the president as the only official with democratic accountability and therefore legitimacy.
Isn’t this in direct violation of 31 USC 5114(b)? “Only the portrait of a drceased individual may apoear on United States currency and securities.” www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Trump appointees push $250 banknote with his portrait
The director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing who resisted the effort was reassigned last month. “The buck stopped here,” she wrote in her goodbye email.
washingtonpost.com
Amid much discussion about the potential political fallout from gutting the VRA, what’s missing is the outrage that the Court, from Shelby County on, has usurped Congress’s explicit authority to decide on what legislation is appropriate for enforcing the 14th and 15th Ams. Not the original plan.
Seems surprising that Congress got a powerfully delivered “No Kings” message from (checks notes) King Charles III. www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
King Charles Receives Standing Ovation In Congress While Discussing Government Checks And Balances
huffpost.com
Last month, I published an essay on the conservative divide over "major questions doctrine," as displayed in Trump's tariff loss, and how it might defeat his civil service shenanigans. I am grateful to Touro Law for inviting me to share the thoughts in podcast form. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1OV...
Professor Peter Shane on the The Major Questions Doctrine, the Tariffs Case, and the Civil Service
YouTube video by Touro Law Center
youtube.com
He plans to explain the Quran to his Iranian counterparts,
Paul Gowder@gowder.io · 4mo agoVance is heading the next peace talks again? Good lord Trump loves to reward incompetence
If @theatlantic.com pays even one dime to settle this BS, it will lose subscribers. Get discovery, people!
Maybell Romero@maybell.bsky.social · 4mo agoHave fun with proving actual malice: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/u...
So much for Hamilton’s description of the Court as lacking “will.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...
The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court
nytimes.com
Turns out April 12 is not January 6. Congratulations to the people of Hungary!
Enjoyed spending half an hour discussing the precarious state of checks and balances with Brian Endless, filling in for Edwin Eisendrath, on yesterday’s broadcast of “It’s the Democracy, Stupid,” on WCPT out of Chicago. omny.fm/shows/democr...
WCPT 820 Interview: Peter Shane - It's the Democracy, Stupid with Edwin Eisendrath (formerly The Big Picture)
Filling in for Edwin Eisendrath, Brian Endless is joined by Peter Shane, the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law Emeritus at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, and distin...
omny.fm
