ol tonyo: haha yes! At least I remember always being very irritated with her wapo columns during the Obama years. But to her credit, I suppose, she did not like the direction the R party took in 2016. Maybe it was all dictated by her audience but the turn was noticeable.

So based on decisions from just this week, the President, as long has he has the gloss of officialdom, can basically do anything without legal restraint, whereas the President, acting via duly appointed agencies authorized by Congress, is more restrained than ever? What a coherent jurisprudence!

it makes no coherent sense other than that it is designed to hamstring democratic presidents and unleash republican ones

And it’s to make them all have to come back before SCOTUS for permission on everything. It’s Calvinball with the upshot of another judicial power grab.

It *looks* like an expansion of executive power, but Roberts’ definitions are so loose that he could rule anything in or out. It’s a little bit like Marbury v. Madison! The executive branch wins the case, but the judicial branch gets the power.

ehhh, i agree with a lot of this thread but not sure they can effectively tame the tiger they're trying to ride. If an executive tries to weaponize the DOJ, say, I'm not sure hte court is going to be able to do much about it.

I think you’re ultimately correct (litigation is painful and expensive even if you prevail). But it wouldn’t be the first time someone was hoisted on the petard of their own ambition!

yeah, very good point, and the court arrogating power is a theme here recently, so it's def not like they wouldn't try to do that

I really think that the unifying theme of the Roberts Court, especially after 2016, is “scoop up all the power Congress is leaving behind by holding on to the filibuster”. I think it’s the defining story of the last decade of the federal government.

Certainly since the trump admin. The thing that I don't understand about it though is that it seems so (and I'm sorry for using this very in vogue term) "accelerationist." Like, presidentialist systems are notoriously volatile, congress is weak, and John Roberts doesn't have an army! Seems bad man

The second biggest story of the Trump years is every other Republican thinking they can ride the tiger.

Well, not *every* other one. Some have become Democrats.

lol, yeah. Jen Rubin fighting the good fight. But i agree! it's dire and bleak for dems right now. But the R bench is really weak/unpopular -- they've sold it all for trump, which is disgusting and has been a deeply unpatriotic undertaking

Was Rubin that really oddly pro Romney columnist back in the day? I’ve lived too long…

haha yes! At least I remember always being very irritated with her wapo columns during the Obama years. But to her credit, I suppose, she did not like the direction the R party took in 2016. Maybe it was all dictated by her audience but the turn was noticeable.

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