From Deportations to Firings: Trump’s ‘Moonshot on Executive Power’

President Trump may forever reshape the boundaries of executive power. This week on “Interesting Times,” Ross and Jack Goldsmith, who was the head of the White House’s Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush, discuss which cases are most likely to win in the courts and permanently expand the executive branch — for better or worse.

• 00:02:03 Donald Trump’s “moonshot on executive power”
• 00:04:16 What has surprised Goldsmith the most
• 00:06:57 Are we in a constitutional crisis?
• 00:08:59 Alien Enemies Act
• 00:14:02 The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
• 00:25:23 Godel’s loophole and Supreme Court enforcement
• 30:10 Trump’s firings of federal employees and restructuring of U.S.A.I.D.
• 36:11 Trump’s power over congressionally appropriated funding
• 41:29 Obama v. Trump’s discretion on enforcing laws passed by Congress
• 43:03 The TikTok case
• 45:46 Lawsuit over Trump’s tariffs
• 51:57 How the Supreme Court (maybe) thinks about picking its battles
• 54:24 Worst case scenarios
• 56:59 What the Supreme Court can do if the Trump administration does not comply
• 01:01:32 What a Trump executive power revolution could look like in 2028 and beyond
• 01:04:39 If Democrats win in 2028, what happens?

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) 

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