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During the first three weeks of the Trump Presidency, I had over a hundred media hits. Fortunately, things have quieted down. Here are my media hits and events over the past two weeks.

Media

• Guest on National Constitution Center “We the People” Podcast to discuss the future of federalism (March 2, 2017) (Audio).

• Featured on KIRO 97.3 FM Seattle, The Tom and Curly Show, to discuss Sanctuary Cities and Federal Funding (Feb. 28, 2017) (Audio).

• Guest on Houston Matters, Houston Public Media, to discuss Texas Supreme Court oral arguments in Pidgeon v. Turner (Feb. 28, 2017) (Audio).

• Cited in Alexa’s responses to customers are protected by the First Amendment, Amazon argues in murder case, ABA Journal (Feb. 27, 2017).
• Quoted in GOP goes after Social Security gun rule, The Northwoods River News (Feb. 25, 2017).
• Guest on Making Money with Charles Payne, Fox Business Network (Feb. 24, 2017) (Video).

• Guest on Cato Daily Podcast, If States Don’t Play Ball, How Much Cash Can Feds Withhold? (Feb. 24, 2017).

• Quoted in Party politics play out in courts in Texas, nationally, USA Today (Feb. 23, 2017).
• Quoted in Trump Rescinds Obama-Era Guidance on Transgender Students, Roll Call (Feb. 22, 2017).
• Cited in Vox Sentences, Vox (Feb. 22, 2017).
• Quoted in Trump Targets Criminals, Late Arrivals in Immigration Enforcement, The Daily Signal (Feb. 21, 2017).
• Quoted in Appropriators Watch Trump’s Next Move on Obamacare Lawsuit, Roll Call (Feb. 21, 2017).
• Guest on The Mike Hart Show to discuss Unraveled, WXJC-AM (850 AM) Birmingham, AL (Feb. 20, 2017).
• Guest on AM740 KTRH to discuss libel law (Feb. 20, 2017) (Audio).

Events

• The Constitutionality of the Travel Ban, Faulkner Federalist Society (Feb. 28, 2017) (Post, Audio).

• “The Future of Federalism,” event co-sponsored at the Georgetown University Law Center by the National Constitution Society, the Georgetown Federalist Society, and the American Constitution Society (Feb. 23, 2017) (Audio).

• “Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty and Executive Power,” Hoover Institution D.C. Office (Feb. 23, 2017).

• Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty, and Executive Power, Florida State Federalist Society Chapter (Feb. 22, 2017) (Video).

 

During the third week of the Trump Presidency, my commentary and media hits focused primarily on a single topic (immigration), but were nearly as numerous as weeks one and two. Among the highlights, I was on the Fox Business Network four nights in a row, quoted by the Associated Press wire twice, was a guest on Nina Totenberg’s segments, and appeared on the BBC three times. I was supposed to be on the Canadian Broadcasting Channel as well, but got bumped for breaking news. Such is life.

• Guest on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday with Nina Totenberg, “Trump’s Criticism Of Judges Out Of Line With Past Presidents” (Feb. 11, 2017) (Post, Audio).

• Quoted in “Fixing Trump Executive Order’s Legal Problems Is No Easy Task,” Bloomberg Politics (Feb. 11, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump reportedly considers new immigration order after court defeat,” Fox News (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Guest on “Making Money” with Charles Payne, Fox Business Network, to discuss immigration Appeal (Feb. 10, 2017) (Post, Video).

• Quoted in “Precedented: Is Trump uniquely awful? Some historic perspective,” Washington Examiner (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump Weighs New Immigration Order With Next Legal Moves Unclear,” Bloomberg Politics (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Guest on KURV 710AM McAllen to discuss Trump’s executive action on immigration (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump’s Court Battle in Perspective,” Canada Free Press (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Quoted in “‘See You In Court,’ Trump Says. OK, Now What?“, FiveThirty Eight (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump’s Court Battle in Perspective,” Accuracy in Media (Feb. 10, 2017).
• Guest on Tom Bernard Podcast to discuss nomination of Judge Gorusch (Feb. 10, 2017) (Audio).

• Featured on KDKA Radio Pittsburgh, discussing travel ban (Feb. 9, 2017).
• Cited in “Dems seize on court rebuke of Trump’s immigration ban,” Politico (Feb. 9, 2017).
• Guest on Houston Matters, Houston Public Radio, to discuss President Trump’s regulatory rollback (Feb. 9, 2017) (Audio).

• Guest on Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss Washington v. Trump (Feb. 9, 2017) (Post, Video).

• Quoted in “US appeals court refuses to reinstate President Trump’s travel ban,” Associated Press (Feb. 9, 2017) (Translated in Spanish, German, Portuguese)
• Quoted in The Threat to the Integrity of an Independent Judiciary, National Review (Feb. 9, 2017).
• Quoted in “6 times when presidents besides Trump weighed in on court rulings,” Los Angeles Times (Feb. 8, 2017).
• Guest Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss Washington v. Trump (Feb. 8, 2017) (Post, Video).

• Guest on Heartland Institute Podcast to Discuss Obamacare in the Trump Administration (Feb. 7, 2017) (Post, Audio).
• Quoted in “Lawyers clash at hearing over future of Trump’s immigration ban,” The Globe and Mail of Canada (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Guest on Fox Business “Making Money” to talk about 9th Circuit Arguments in Washington v. Trump (Feb. 7, 2017) (Post, Video).

• Guest on Houston Matters, “Vote Reignites Debate Over Teaching Evolution and Creationism in Texas Schools” Houston Public Radio (Feb. 7, 2017) (Audio).
• Quoted in “Please stop calling everything Trump does ‘unprecedented,’” The New York Post (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Quoted in “What’s Next in Hot-Button Travel Ban Litigation?,” The National Law Journal (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Cited in “The Refugee Executive Order, the Immigration Act, and the Government’s Bottom Line,” Lawfare (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Quoted in “Liberals exploiting anti-Obama tactics to thwart Trump’s travel ban,” Politico (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Quoted in “Battle over Trump’s travel ban appears destined for Supreme Court,” The Financial Times (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Quoted in “The legal battle over Trump’s immigration ban, explained,” Vox (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Quoted in “Understanding the Legality of Trump’s Refugee Action,” Lifezette (Feb. 7, 2017).
• Cited in “The case for Trump’s ban would be much stronger without Trump,” Fox (Feb. 6, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump’s tweets against judges worry legal community,” CNN Politics (Feb. 6, 2017).
• Guest on “To The Point,” KCRS Public Radio, to discuss President Trump’s Executive Order (Feb. 6, 2017) (Audio).
• Quoted in “This Is What’s Happening On Trump’s Refugee Order,” The Daily Caller (Feb. 6, 2017).
• Guest on BBC Radio 4 to discuss the Separation of Powers (Feb. 6, 2017) (Post, Audio).

• Guest on BBC One – Breakfast to discuss the travel ban (Feb. 6, 2017) (Post, Video)

• Guest on the BBC World News to discuss the travel ban (Feb. 6, 2017) (Post, Video).

• Quoted in “Federal appeals court will not immediately reinstate executive orders on immigration,” the Christian Science Monitor (Feb. 5, 2017).
• Guest on The Bill Cunningham Show, 700 AM WLW Cincinnati to discuss nomination of Judge Gorsuch (Feb. 5, 2017) (Audio).

 

At some point over the last week, I published my 10,000th blog post on JoshBlackman.com. I launched the blog on September 29, 2009. Over the course of seven years and four months, I’ve averaged about 113 blog posts per month, or a bit less than 4 a day. I wrote my 9,000th post in September 2015, 8,000th in August 2014, 7,500th in April 2014, 6,000th in July 2013, 5,000th in December 2012, 4,000th in April 2012, 3,500th in February 2012, 3,000th in November 2011, 2,000th in November 2011, and 1,500th in January 2011. As some readers may have discerned, over the past year I tried to deliberately slow down on blogging to focus more on longer-form pieces in National Review and elsewhere.

However, if the last three weeks are any indication, things are moving too quickly to wait for publications. My current strategy is to react to breaking news with lengthy twitter threads (sometimes 20 or 30 tweets deep), and then copy those tweets into a blog post. It’s not as elegant as the old instant analyses of days gone by, but it allows me to quickly reach many more people in a short time. Since the inauguration, my Twitter follower count has jumped from 6,500 to nearly 9,000. Readers who wish to get my quickest take can check the twitter feed in the right-hand column of this site, or (I would strongly encourage you to) join Twitter. You don’t need to tweet–only follow.

Here is my commentary and media hits over the past week. The big stories were the immigration executive order, the firing of Sally Yates, and the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Commentary

• Why Trump Had To Fire Sally Yates, Politico Magazine (Jan. 31, 2017).
• The Kennedy Whisperer, Politico Magazine (Feb. 1, 2017).
• Fair-Weather Originalists, National Review (Feb. 20, 2017) (PDF).

 

Media

• Guest on AM740 KTRH to discuss the Supreme Court and immigration (Jan 30, 2017).
• Guest on “This World” on Australian Broadcasting Channel to discuss Trump’s executive order on immigration (Jan. 30, 2017) (Post, Video).

• Guest on “Airtalk,” 89.3 KPCC National Public Radio to discuss “Debating constitutionality, intent and efficacy of Trump Executive Order on immigration” (Jan. 30, 2017) (Audio).

• Quoted in “Trump’s ACA Executive Order Won’t Affect Obamacare Litigation,” Bloomberg BNA Health Blog (Jan. 30, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump Fires Acting AG Who Refused to Enforce Refugee Order,” The Daily Caller (Jan. 30, 2017).
• Guest on BBC World Service: “President Trump Replaces Acting Attorney General” (Jan. 31, 2017) (Audio).

• Guest on the Mildred Gaddis Show, Am 1200/99.9 FM WCHB Detroit, to discuss Trump’s firing of Yates (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Quoted in “Here is who prediction markets favor for Trump’s Supreme Court pick,” Washington Examiner (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump’s AG Pick Once Told Yates to ‘Say No’ to Improper Demands,” National Law Journal (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Quoted in “Will Trump’s SCOTUS pick disappoint Trump?,” Politico (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Guest on Bloomberg Law Radio to discuss “Sally Yates Out After Disagreement With Trump” (Jan. 31, 2017) (Audio).

• Quoted in “Trump had to fire Sally Yates, Hillary blames Obama and other notable comments,” New York Post Editorial Board (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Quoted in “From reality TV clown to Nixon on steroids: ‘You’re fired!‘” Newsworks (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Quoted in “Picking and choosing: Fired AG defended Obama’s unlawful immigration amnesty,” Washington Times (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Quoted in “Democrats should use the coming court fight to spotlight Trump’s authoritarianism. Here’s how.,” Washington Post (Jan. 31, 2017).
• Guest on The Larry O’Connor Show to discuss Supreme Court nomination, WMAL 630 AM Washington, D.C. (Jan. 31, 2017) (Audio).

• Guest on CNBC Squawk Box to discuss Supreme Court nomination (Jan. 31, 2017) (Video).

• Quoted in “President Trump taps conservative Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court,” Christian Science Monitor (Feb. 1, 2017).
• Guest on News Now with Bryan Nehman on WBAL Newsradio 1090, Baltimore to discuss the Supreme Court (Feb. 1, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump’s Immigration Order Might Be Constitutional, But Its Hasty Construction Will Hurt Him,” The Federalist (Feb. 1, 2017).
• Guest on 1A, WAMU Public Radio, “Before The Court: A Vacant Seat And The Current Caseload” (Feb. 1, 2017) (Audio).

Wait wait wait…Fantasy SCOTUS is a thing? @JoshMBlackman explains: it's real, and it picked Gorsuch https://t.co/nI7Hb4vJTF #FantasySCOTUS pic.twitter.com/Xr3ZINLo7Y

— 1A (@1a) February 2, 2017

• Quoted in “Federal Judges to Hear Arguments Defending Trump Travel Ban,” Associated Press (Feb. 2, 2017).
• Guest on WILS-AM Lansing MI with Dave Ackerly to discuss Supreme Court nomination (Feb. 2, 2017) (Audio).

• Quoted in “Detentions’ Immediacy Forgives Class Flaws,” Bloomberg BNA Class Action Litigation Report (Feb. 3, 2017).
• Guest on Popp Off, KAHI-AM Sacramento to discuss Supreme Court nomination (Feb. 3, 2017).
• Quoted in “Die kurzfristige Macht der Richter,” Zeit Online (Feb. 4, 2017).
• Quoted in “Hyller Donald Trumps valg,” Nettavisen (Feb. 4, 2017).
• Quoted in “Sauce For The Goose? Judge Cites Anti-Obama Ruling To Block Trump’s Immigration Order,” Forbes (Feb. 4, 2017).
• Quoted in “Trump Officials File Appeal to Overturn Ruling Blocking Immigration Order,” The New York Times (Feb. 4, 2017).
• Quoted in “The deadly serious accusation of being a ‘so-called judge,'” Washington Post  (Feb. 4, 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.

• Quoted in Donald Trump hérite d’un large pouvoir présidentiel, La Libre – Belgium (Jan. 23, 2017) (PDF).

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.