Peter M. Shane

“Trump’s use of executive power is not a distortion of the Roberts Court’s theory of the presidency; it is the Court’s theory of the presidency, brought to life.” My take in The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

A line from Jessica Tisch at last night's Al Smith dinner in NYC: "I’m a Jewish police commissioner working for a Muslim mayor, and tonight I’m being honored by the Catholic Church. God Bless America.” Amen.

Isn’t the first lesson in Being a Press Secretary 101, “Don’t become the story?”

If you're looking for free entertainment next Thursday night, you can register with the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law to see UVA Prof. Sai Prakash and me debate the merits of unitary executive theory. The program starts at 5:30 MST/7:30 EST. utahlaw-uofu.nbsstore.net/the-41st-ann...

To be fair, ANY form of intelligence is an enemy to Trump 

There is no panel of pundits I’ve seen anywhere I like more than these three.

The American.Gov chatbot knows stuff.

The self-beclowning of such Senators would be more amusing if we weren’t paying their salaries.

The accelerating pace of tech progress: It took years to go from “The WWW will connect humanity!” to the evisceration of local journalism, and weeks from “Claude, give the dog in my photo a bigger smile,” to, “We’re all gonna die!”

I can’t be the only one who wishes Norm McDonald were still among the living for Weekend Update to cover U.S.-Canadian relations.

43 USC 364: "The Secretary of the Interior...shall provide for uniformity in geographic nomenclature...throughout the Federal Government...." Congress has enacted statutes that name "Lake Ontario" as part of the Great Lakes. I'd argue the "uniformity" requirement precludes second-guessing Congress.

Trump's determination to make the economy worse for his supporters is matched only by his relentless campaign to alienate our allies and generally to persuade the world that America is less powerful and less dependable than both friends and adversaries might have thought.

The writers and performers who have so far won the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song are all wonderful, but it's criminal that Dolly was not among the first winners. I mean, for example, I like Garth Brooks who won in 2020, but . . .

Trump sees no difference between himself and his office or, for that matter, between himself and the USA. The office of President, he believes, constitutionally empowers him to do whatever he wants. The value of US relations with other countries is measured in how nicely their leaders treat him.

It is disheartening that roughly a third of Americans do not understand how profoundly Trump and Hegseth are unsuited for military leadership and how catastrophic are their complete lack of strategic vision. Also disheartening: Iran understands this perfectly.

This is the funniest political ad you will see today . . . or maybe ever. youtu.be/QlHVxUMasu0?...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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.

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."

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.

It certainly doesn't reflect well on Trump.

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.

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.

Iran is awarding him the FAFO Peace Prize.

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.

What about Ted Nugent and any number of testosterone-infused bands that turn out to be Nazis?

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

He plans to explain the Quran to his Iranian counterparts,

If @theatlantic.com pays even one dime to settle this BS, it will lose subscribers. Get discovery, people!

So much for Hamilton’s description of the Court as lacking “will.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

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...

Poetry can say it all.

I still don't understand how he lasted past the Access Hollywood tape or his public belittling of Serge Kovaleski's disability.

It is the American civilization he is killing, one norm of decency, empathy, and accountability at a time.

And in related news, "FEMA Hires Crackpot as Associate Administrator of its Office of Response and Recovery." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

With amazing hubris, the Justice Department OLC has declared the Presidential Records Act of 1978 unconstitutional--even though the Supreme Court upheld the earlier statute on which it was expressly modeled. The opinion's issuance on April Fool's Day fits. If only. www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...