
Article II


Is the Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett Unconstitutional?
On Oct. 10, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden claimed that nominating and potentially approving Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court during election season was “not constitutional.” You might think Biden knows what he’s talking about. Trained as a lawyer,...
Supreme Court and Rules of the Game
The United States Constitution’s Article 2, Sec. 2, cl. 2, provides that the president of the United States “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the...
Can the Vice President Break a Tie on Appointments?
In the Boston Globe, Laurence Tribe (Harvard) makes an originalist case that the Vice President cannot break ties on appointments votes. It’s an interesting issue but I am not persuaded. He begins: While the vice president has the power to cast a tiebreaking...
Senator Harris Is a Natural Born Citizen
This post consolidates and extends earlier comments I (here and here) and others (especially Eugene Volokh here) have made about Senator Kamala Harris’ eligibility to be President (and derivatively her eligibility to be Vice President). To put the conclusion up...