David Driesen

Because you want to prove that law does not constrain you.

I've heard several plausible theories as to why Trump attacked Iran. 1) Iran's enemies, Qatar, the EUA, and Saudia Arabia have enriched Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff. 2)Trump is trying to distract us from his use of ICE and/or the Epstein files.

Dictatorship and Accountability | The Regulatory Review A recent Trump executive order unlawfully undermines the authority of independent agencies.

The Regulatory Review identified my post analyzing the relationship between attacking independent agencies and the creation of dictatorship as one its top ten posts for 2025:

www.theregreview.org/2025/03/01/d...

I won't watch CBS until it releases the documentary on mistreatment of immigrants. I do not understand why CBS wants comments from the Trump Administration, as it almost never reveals facts. Publishing its statements is simply creating propaganda.

The problem, however, proves broader. A President with autocratic tendencies can use just about any government power to reward his friends and punish his enemies. President Trump showed this on numerous occasions. For example, he pushed the Pentagon not to give Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos’ Amazon a cloud computing contract and suggested that Governors must not criticize him if they wanted to get federal assistance to fight COVID-19. The ability to arbitrarily fire government officials supports that kind of abuse. The Court will have occasions in the future to consider whether to extend or curtail its dangerous endorsement of the idea that the President must have a political removal authority so that government officials “fear and obey” the President. The Court has gone far in Seila Law and Collins to relax justiciability barriers to private challenges to the internal checks and balances that help hold a Democracy together. https://share.google/t5WtHPsb0NUtOBGjV

📣 From *2021*: pertinent read at the American Constitution Society...

The Specter of Dictatorship & the Supreme Court’s Embrace of the Unitary Executive Theory

By @daviddriesen.bsky.social, Professor, Syracuse University College of Law
🧾 share.google/t5WtHPsb0NUt...

It's been fairly obvious, despite Trump's gestures to the contrary, that Putin has Trump in his pocket.

Trump Tariff Trouble His doublethink may be too much even for the supine Supremes

The parties should have challenged Trump's declaration of an emergency in the tariff case. open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Opinion | In Trump’s America, Are We Losing Our Democracy? (Gift Article) Donald Trump has wielded power as no previous president has.

The New York Times published an article on Trump's authoritarianism today. It said that Trump was following other authoritarians in defying or evading court orders. Is it true that authoritarians defy court orders? Or is Trump breaking new ground in this respect? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Nope. It just means that Trump is at his usual game of falsely accusing his opponents of doing what he is doing. The rule of law is basically gone in the federal government. Its officials obey Trump, not the law.

“The rule of law has collapsed in the executive branch because Trump has established a unitary executive theory and supplemented this with the abuse of emergency powers,” said Member Scholar David Driesen, of @syracuselaw.bsky.social.

✍ @paulblumenthal.bsky.social

I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that the Supreme Court's jurisdiction should be greatly reduced. It's not just these Justices. Historically, the Court has usually undermined democracy, equality, and freedom.

How Trump Broke The Presidency Trump’s quest to claim all power for himself is drastically reshaping not just his presidency, but American democracy writ large.

The Huffington Post quoted me on the Trump dictatorship:
www.huffpost.com/entry/donald...

Friend sent me this.
🤣🤣🤣🤣

The dangerous legal theory behind Trump’s power grabs There was no "unitary executive" until some dudes made the idea up to save Nixon.

Mother Jones published a fine article on the unitary executive theory, which quotes me, Noah Rosenbloom, Jed Shugerman, and Jack Goldsmith: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

This is the most cogent analysis I've seen of Trump's construction of a police state.

Constitutional Commentary just published my article examining Justice Story's views on presidential removal of executive branch officials. The analysis suggests that the Supreme Court practices selective living originalism,. constitutionalcommentary.lib.umn.edu/article/does...

Exactly. But fidelity to law is most consistent with the District Courts. As one moves up the appellate ladder, fidelity to the rule of law, competence, and wisdom diminish, while arrogant political rulings increase. The Supreme Court is indeed actively destroying constitutional government.

The Albany Law Review just published my critique of Justice Barrett's claim that "common sense" supports the major questions doctrine. www.albanylawreview.org/article/1412...

House GOP is holding a hearing on their tax bill at 1:00 AM because they don't want us to know about their scheme to strip 13.7 million people of health coverage & they think no one will stay awake for it.

I’ll be there, testifying & offering amendments to protect our families.

The dangerous legal theory behind Trump’s power grabs There was no "unitary executive" until some dudes made the idea up to save Nixon.

Mother Jones published a fine article on the unitary executive theory, which quotes me, Noah Rosenbloom, Jed Shugerman, and Jack Goldsmith: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Leader Schumer released this statement blasting President Bukele's comments and calling on the Trump administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States.

A threat to one is a threat to all.

My statement on Trump’s outrageous attack on due process and the rule of law:

Schumer: "They've actually put tariffs on penguins but not Putin."

The Judges’ Dream World | The Regulatory Review President Trump’s removal of agency heads without cause threatens the rule of law.

This blogpost argues that some of the D.C. Circuit judges adjudicating preliminary orders in the cases about firing independent agency board members are living in a "dream world" by imagining that these actions are part of faithful law execution. www.theregreview.org/2025/04/09/d...

He does know what he's doing. He is serving Putin by crashing our economy. Do you think that a President who threatens to attack our allies, starts a trade war, supports Russia's war with Ukraine, dismantles the government, and carries out mass deportation of our labor force works for us? .

Why? Do the other pending cases involve contracts that might be litigated in the court of claims?

Yup. So doesn't your fiduciary duty demand your resignation from government?

This is not incompetence. The administration is serving Russian interests by providing opening to weaken our army, our economy, and our government. Why does everybody assume that they are bunglers with good intentions. There is no evidence of good intentions.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk want a shutdown to destroy vital government services faster.

It would be a disaster.

And we have to alert everyone how much pain it would cause the American people.

From my interview on @allinwithchris.bsky.social:

Trump, Musk, and DOGE would use the power of a shutdown to shift into overdrive.

And the courts, one of our best places to fight these autocrats, could quickly run out of money.

We can’t let this happen.

Senator Schumer at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, March 18, 2025.

Senator Schumer at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, March 18, 2025.

Today on this Medicaid Day of Action, I headed to Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. It’s the only hospital in the Bronx providing comprehensive cancer services, and 2/3s of patients rely on Medicaid and Medicare.

Trump is trying to rip away this lifeline so he can give tax breaks to billionaires.