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Presidents May Not Unilaterally Dismantle Government Agencies

That’s not how separation of powers works under the U.S. Constitution.
by Peter M. Shane via The Atlantic on February 12, 2025

The President's Cabinet Was an Invention of America's First President

A new book explores how George Washington shaped the group of advisors as an institution to meet his own needs.
by Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Karin Wulf via Smithsonian on April 7, 2020
Collage of James Madison writing, Justice Scalia speaking, White House and Constitution.

Putting the "Executive" in “Unitary Executive”

We cannot divorce the independence of the executive branch from its substance.
by John Yoo via Law & Liberty on June 18, 2025
Purse in the style of the American flag.

The Power of the Purse

The first time a president withheld funds for something approved by Congress, it led to the Impoundment Control Act. We’ll soon find out if that law has teeth.
by Liz Tracey via JSTOR Daily on February 12, 2025
Exhibit

Federal Bureaucracy

The federal government is the nation’s biggest employer. To many, its size is a problem in itself. This exhibit asks: how big is too big, and what do we miss when we focus on size alone?
Supreme Court sign proclaims "equal justice under law."

What Happens If Trump Defies the Courts

Do judges have the power to enforce their rulings if the executive branch refuses to comply?
by Isaac Chotiner, Cristina Rodriguez via The New Yorker on February 11, 2025
Soldiers and a tank, a Defense department seal, and Pete Hegseth.

Bring Back the War Department

If you want a clear strategy for winning wars, don’t play a semantic game with the name of the department that’s charged with the strategy’s execution.
by Elliot Ackerman via The Atlantic on December 5, 2024
Supreme Court of the United States.

Deference and Doomposting

Ironically, Chevron deference — which the conservative Supreme Court scrapped last month — began as a conservative legal tool.
by Christopher Deutsch via Contingent on July 14, 2024
U.S. Capitol building ca. 1800.

Creating a Federal Government, 1789-1829

Digital archive and interactive map that tells the story of U.S. government institutions through the lives and work of federal employees.
by Peter J. Kastor via Washington University in St. Louis on July 1, 2024
Picture of William Belknap sitting in a chair.
partner

Mayorkas Almost Became the Second Cabinet Member Impeached. The First Was a Civil War Hero.

Belknap’s downfall was his decision to abuse his authority to appoint “sutlers” or civilian merchants who ran trading posts that served military outposts.
by Melissa August via Made By History on February 6, 2024

Henry Kissinger, Who Shaped World Affairs Under Two Presidents, Dies at 100

He was the only person ever to be national security adviser and secretary of state at the same time. He was also the target of relentless critics.
by Thomas W. Lippman via Washington Post on November 30, 2023
Portrait of Steve Bannon with a serious expression

Executive Privilege Was Out of Control Even Before Steve Bannon Claimed It

A short history of a made-up constitutional doctrine that gives presidents too much power.
by Timothy Noah via The New Republic on October 18, 2021
FDR's cabinet and descendants

The Unusual Group Trying to Turn Biden into FDR

In a city of ambitious influencers, a shadow cabinet hopes it can summon a new New Deal.
by Ruby Cramer via Politico Magazine on August 1, 2021
Drawing ofGeorge Washington addressing the Continental Congress.

‘George Washington’ Review: Our Founding Politician

Washington was a savvy packager of his own personal virtues. He knew that if you don’t engage in a bit of self-aggrandizement, you lose.
by Barton Swaim via The Wall Street Journal on February 15, 2021
Ulysses S. Grant statue in front of the capitol
partner

Grant — Not Lincoln or Roosevelt — May Hold the Key to Biden’s Success

Biden needs to stare down White supremacy, which requires strenuous enforcement of the laws.
by Judith Giesberg via Made By History on February 3, 2021
Piles of boxes.

Historians Having to Tape Together Records That Trump Tore Up

Implications for public record and legal proceedings after administration seized or destroyed papers, notes and other information.
via The Guardian on January 17, 2021
partner

George Washington Invoked Executive Privilege. But He’d Reject Barr’s Version.

Washington supported a much more limited conception of executive privilege.
by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via Made By History on July 29, 2020
Holes punched in the Constitution.

There’s No Historical Justification for One of the Most Dangerous Ideas in American Law

The Founders didn’t believe that broad delegations of legislative power violated the Constitution, but conservative originalists keep insisting otherwise.
by Julian Davis Mortenson, Nicholas Bagley via The Atlantic on May 26, 2020
Three men in suits.

The GOP Appointees Who Defied the President

In the Watergate era, high-level aides prevented Nixon’s abuses of power. Trump’s underlings can do the same.
by Michael Koncewicz via The Atlantic on November 19, 2019
Demonstrators with signs reading "Impeach Nixon" march toward the U.S. Capitol.

How Watergate Set the Stage for the Trump Impeachment Inquiry

The Nixon impeachment proceedings and their parallels with the Trump-Ukraine scandal.
by Beverly Gage, Isaac Chotiner via The New Yorker on September 25, 2019

The 40-Year War

William Barr’s long struggle against congressional oversight.
by Brad Miller via The American Prospect on September 9, 2019

No Refuge

When Congress gave the Secretary of Labor discretion over any immigrant “likely to become a public charge,” they weren’t expecting someone like Frances Perkins.
by Rebecca Brenner Graham via Contingent on August 23, 2019
Supreme Court building under dark rainclouds.

Critics of the Administrative State Have a History Problem

If they return governance to its 19th century roots, they will also do away with courts' ability to review agency action.
by Sophia Z. Lee via LPE Project on August 1, 2019
U.S. Constitution

The President Who Would Not Be King

Executive power and the Constitution.
by Michael W. McConnell via Stanford Lawyer on June 26, 2019
partner

A Brief History of the Theory Trump and Barr Use to Resist Congressional Oversight

Is Trump's power as president becoming just what the Founders feared?
by Donald J. Fraser via HNN on June 2, 2019

The Hidden Power Behind D-Day

Admiral William D. Leahy was instrumental in bringing the Allies together to agree upon the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
by Phillips Payson O'Brien via Smithsonian on May 30, 2019

The Making of the Military-Intellectual Complex

Why is U.S. foreign policy dominated by an unelected, often reckless cohort of “the best and the brightest”?
by Daniel Bessner via The New Republic on May 29, 2019

A Brief History of Presidential Lethargy

How much do we expect our presidents to rest?
by Stacy A. Cordery via The Conversation on February 15, 2019
Trump and his cabinet sitting around a conference table.
partner

Why the Power Elite Continues to Dominate American Politics

Presidents of both parties stock their Cabinets with corporate leaders.
by Timothy M. Gill via Made By History on December 24, 2018
Trump's cabinet sitting around a conference table
partner

History Shows Trump May Regret His Scandalous Cabinet

George Washington knew the perils of letting scandals linger.
by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via Made By History on August 14, 2018

The End of Civil Rights

The attorney general is pushing an agenda that could erase many of the legal gains of modern America's defining movement.
by Vann R. Newkirk II via The Atlantic on June 18, 2018
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