Free Republic

President Donald Trump secured one of the biggest constitutional victories of his presidency after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 91 year old precedent that had limited a president’s authority to remove officials from so called “independent” federal agencies. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the Court held that presidents have the constitutional authority to remove officials serving in executive branch agencies, striking down key parts of the Court’s 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. The ruling immediately gives Trump the authority to remove Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, a Democrat whose case became the central test of...

The fantastic fall of Fani Willis is one of the great comedies of recent American politics. It’s the flagrant corruption of Hunter Biden, mixed with the stupidity of Jussie Smollett, the courtroom farce of the George Zimmerman trial, and the sky-high political stakes of a U.S. presidential election. It’s the joyous, healthy humor of seeing a wicked, ridiculous person be exposed and get exactly what she deserves. Right now, it still isn’t certain whether Judge Scott McAfee will actually kick Fani Willis off her own case, but even if he doesn’t, the damage has substantially been done. The tenuous prosecution...

I would oppose Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson because of her judicial philosophy, for the reasons outlined by Ed Whelan last week. I address that in a separate post. For now, I want to discuss the claim by Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) that Judge Jackson is appallingly soft on child-pornography offenders. The allegation appears meritless to the point of demagoguery. Senator Hawley is a bright guy, but if he ever handled a child-pornography case in the brief time he spent as a practicing lawyer before he sought public office, that is not apparent. Nor does it appear, from the admittedly...

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, is blasting President Joe Biden for choosing D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Fellow South Carolina Senator Tim Scott is also expressing disappointment. Meanwhile Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted against her confirmation to her current position on the D.C. Circuit, is also weighing in. "I congratulate Judge Jackson on her nomination. I look forward to meeting with her in person and studying her record, legal views, and judicial philosophy," McConnell released in a statement Friday. "Senate Republicans believe the...