Quinta Jurecic

And so the carelessness of the implementation, I think, has policy implications and also serious legal implications such that, you know, there are things that they could have done arguably in one way that would have been acceptable, but that may be held up in court because they were done so carelessly.

And so the carelessness of the implementation, I think, has policy implications and also serious legal implications such that, you know, there are things that they could have done arguably in one way that would have been acceptable, but that may be held up in court because they were done so carelessly.

Right. This is where it gets tricky. I think the question of, you know, what happens if a court says you can't continue to dismantle this agency and then the administration says essentially try me is kind of the big question. This is moving more into the realm of things that are outright illegal under any circumstance. For example, the Birthright Citizenship Executive Order.

Right. This is where it gets tricky. I think the question of, you know, what happens if a court says you can't continue to dismantle this agency and then the administration says essentially try me is kind of the big question. This is moving more into the realm of things that are outright illegal under any circumstance. For example, the Birthright Citizenship Executive Order.

That was an order that directed the government to stop issuing or recognizing paperwork to babies born to parents who, the wording's a little confusing, but neither parent is either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident, a green card holder, after late February, I think February 19th. It has now been enjoined in two separate courts, with the court essentially saying,

That was an order that directed the government to stop issuing or recognizing paperwork to babies born to parents who, the wording's a little confusing, but neither parent is either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident, a green card holder, after late February, I think February 19th. It has now been enjoined in two separate courts, with the court essentially saying,

This certainly appears to be completely unconstitutional. The plaintiffs have a good case that it is unconstitutional. And as a result, we're going to block you from putting this into effect. We have no indication that the administration is going to try to put it into effect over that court order. So then the question is, okay, well, what does it look like if they say, you know, we're actually...

This certainly appears to be completely unconstitutional. The plaintiffs have a good case that it is unconstitutional. And as a result, we're going to block you from putting this into effect. We have no indication that the administration is going to try to put it into effect over that court order. So then the question is, okay, well, what does it look like if they say, you know, we're actually...

not going to provide social security numbers, for example, to these infants that were born on U.S. soil and that are under the interpretation of the 14th Amendment that everyone has accepted, essentially, since it was brought into law. I mean, I think the sort of short answer is that's what we call a constitutional crisis. And we don't really know how it would play out.

not going to provide social security numbers, for example, to these infants that were born on U.S. soil and that are under the interpretation of the 14th Amendment that everyone has accepted, essentially, since it was brought into law. I mean, I think the sort of short answer is that's what we call a constitutional crisis. And we don't really know how it would play out.

I think it is worth emphasizing that in the first Trump administration, I don't know of any instance in which the administration flat out ignored an order of a court. He never said, you know, I'm simply not going to obey a court order. He would kind of post on Twitter about it and complain, but then his administration would comply.

I think it is worth emphasizing that in the first Trump administration, I don't know of any instance in which the administration flat out ignored an order of a court. He never said, you know, I'm simply not going to obey a court order. He would kind of post on Twitter about it and complain, but then his administration would comply.

When we came into the second Trump administration, I was not actually that worried about him disobeying a court order precisely because of that. I think there are aspects of the way this administration has governed in these first few weeks that make me more worried. But at the end of the day, the answer to your question is, you know, we simply don't know.

When we came into the second Trump administration, I was not actually that worried about him disobeying a court order precisely because of that. I think there are aspects of the way this administration has governed in these first few weeks that make me more worried. But at the end of the day, the answer to your question is, you know, we simply don't know.

Another example is the spending freezes coming out of OMB. One thing that I think has not been communicated clearly, and as a member of the press, that's maybe partly on my shoulders as well, is just how big a deal it is that the administration came in and immediately tried to cut off possibly trillions of dollars of spending authorized by Congress just all at once.

Another example is the spending freezes coming out of OMB. One thing that I think has not been communicated clearly, and as a member of the press, that's maybe partly on my shoulders as well, is just how big a deal it is that the administration came in and immediately tried to cut off possibly trillions of dollars of spending authorized by Congress just all at once.

That's not just a, you know, bull in a china shop. That is, again, an effort to usurp the congressional power of the purse, which is the main power that the Constitution gives Congress as a coordinate branch of government, as a check on the other branches.

That's not just a, you know, bull in a china shop. That is, again, an effort to usurp the congressional power of the purse, which is the main power that the Constitution gives Congress as a coordinate branch of government, as a check on the other branches.

Because you can see, you know, if Congress says, okay, you're going to spend this much money on these things, and then the president says, actually, I don't want to, you've really limited the power of Congress to... Act in a constitutional fashion to exert any power over the executive.

Because you can see, you know, if Congress says, okay, you're going to spend this much money on these things, and then the president says, actually, I don't want to, you've really limited the power of Congress to... Act in a constitutional fashion to exert any power over the executive.