Media Hits in Week 1 of the Trump Presidency

January 29th, 2017

More often than not, court watchers know (roughly) when big news will drop. When a new controversial law is about to go into effect, the emergency TRO is expected. When a lower court does something with huge stakes, the application for a stay to the Supreme Court is imminent. Never schedule anything for the last week in June, because that is when the Supreme Court will drop its biggest decisions. However, the past week was perhaps the most intense week of breaking legal news developments in my short career, between the executive order on Obamacare, the Emoluments Clause suit, the impending SCOTUS nomination, the executive orders on immigration, and more. The ad-hoc, chaotic manner in which everything happened has been stunning, and tough to keep up with (as I write this, a SCOTUS nomination may drop any minute).

Here is an overview of my media hits from the inauguration to the present (and a few older bits I forgot to include on my CV).

Emoluments Clause

  1. Quoted in Trump says lawsuit claiming he violated the Constitution is ‘without merit’, Politico (Jan. 22, 2017).
  2. Quoted in Law Profs Butt Heads Over Suit Filed Against Trump, National Law Journal (Jan. 23, 2017).
  3. Quoted in Trump’s Foreign Dealings Violate Constitution, Suit Claims, Bloomberg Politics (Jan. 23, 2017).
  4. Quoted in What is the ‘Emoluments Clause’? Does it apply to President Trump?, Washington Post (Jan.23, 2017).
  5. Quoted in Taxpayers Will Defend Trump in Suit Charging Constitutional Violations, New York Times (Jan. 23, 2017).
  6. Quoted in Why the New Ethics Lawsuit Against Trump Is Probably Dead on Arrival, The Fiscal Times (Jan. 23, 2017).
  7. Quoted in Does the emoluments clause lawsuit against President Trump stand a chance?, Washington Post (Jan. 23, 2017).
  8. Quoted in ‘Emoluments’ Lawsuit Against Trump May Get Kicked Out Of Court, Huffington Post (Jan. 23, 2017).
  9. Quoted in Democrats-linked ethics group sues Trump over ‘unconstitutional’ DC hotel, RT (Jan. 24, 2017).
  10. Guest on KRLD 1080AM Dallas to discuss the Emoluments Clause (Jan. 25, 2017).
  11. Quoted in Will Politics Derail Suit Over Trump Business Deals? Bloomberg BNA Law Week (Jan. 26, 2017).

 

Obamacare

  1. Quoted in Obamacare Executive Order Has Little Effect on Litigation, Bloomberg BNA Health Reporter (Jan. 27, 2017).
  2. Quoted in Employers’ ACA burden: Overlooked, or oversimplified, in Trump executive order?, ACA Insights (Jan. 25, 2017).
  3. Cited in Can President Trump’s executive order unravel the Affordable Care Act?, The Washington Post (Jan. 23, 2017).
  4. Quoted in Exclusive: Andy Slavitt’s next mission is saving Obamacare, Politico (Jan. 23, 2017).
  5. Guest on The Tommy Tucker Show, WWL AM870 New Orleans, to discuss Trump’s executive action on Obamacare (Jan. 23, 2017) (Audio).
  6. Quoted in Trump May Use Obama’s Executive Branch Power Grabs to Destroy Obamacare, Reason (Jan. 23, 2017).
  7. Quoted in How Trump can use Obamacare to kill Obamacare, Politico (Jan. 22, 2017).
  8. Quoted in How Will Trump Shrink Obamacare? The Same Way Obama Did, Forbes (Jan. 21, 2017).
  9. Guest on Chris Oaks Morning Show, WFIN AM1330 Toledo, to discuss Obamacare (Jan. 19, 2017) (Audio).

 

Immigration

  1. Guest on To The Point (KCRW Public Radio), to discuss Trump’s executive action on immigration (Jan. 26, 2017) (Audio).
  2. Guest on The Tommy Tucker Show, WWL AM870 New Orleans, to discuss Trump’s executive action on immigration (Jan. 26, 2017).
  3. Guest on KURV 710AM McAllen to discuss Trump’s executive action on immigration (Jan. 26, 2017).

 

SCOTUS

  1. Guest on WHDT Naples to discuss Supreme Court nomination, (Jan. 29, 2017).
  2. Quoted in Fans have fantasy sports, Supreme Court nerds have FantasySCOTUS, USA Today (Jan. 26, 2017).
  3. Quoted in Lawyers are being replaced by machines that read, Quartz (Jan. 25, 2017).
  4. Quoted in Neil Gorsuch Said to be a Leading SCOTUS Contender, ABA Journal (Jan. 23, 2017).
  5. Quoted in Predicting Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, The Economist’s Democracy in America Blog (Jan. 23, 2017).
  6. Guest on the Texas Standard to discuss How Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Could Affect Texas Cases (Jan. 20, 2017).
  7. Quoted in GOP has an opportunity to make Obama’s legacy a mere BLIP in American history, Conservative Review (Jan. 20, 2017).
  8. Quoted in Game of Robes: Rampant Speculation over a Supreme Court pick, CQ Roll Call (Jan. 11, 2017).

 

Perhaps my favorite media hit of the week was from La Libre, a French-language newspaper in Belgium. I was interviewed about a range of constitutional questions concerning the Trump Administration.

I don’t speak French, though a friend who is fluent translated it for me (Google Translate made no sense). My favorite quote.

Et quand bien même les juges mettraient de côté leurs sensibilités politiques, ils ne pourront bloquer le président que dans ses actions qui violeraient la Constitution. Or, souligne M. Blackman, “tout ce qui est stupide n’est pas anticonstitutionnel” .

And while the judges put aside their political inclinations, they won’t be able to block the president except in his actions that violate the Constitution. Or, emphasizes Mr. Blackman, “not everything that is stupid is unconstitutional.”

That one’s for you, Nino.

What a crazy week. Can’t wait till next week.