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Now JonRauch on 🦋
@jon_rauch
Author of Cross Purposes and The Constitution of Knowledge. Senior fellow @BrookingsInst. Contributing writer @TheAtlantic. Sorry, shrimp isn't food.
DC
Joined April 2013
Posts
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    Post-impeachment, we can say this: Trump's presidency has amended the Constitution. Not formally, of course, but informally...which matters just as much. Here are the five Trump amendments. 1/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    And more than ever, there's a howling void at the center of the Constitution...one called Congress. 9/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    1. "No president shall be removed from office for treason, bribery, or any other crime or misdemeanor provided a partisan minority of the Senate will protect him (which is always). Impeachment is thus a nullity and presidents can expect impunity." 2/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    2. "Congressional oversight shall be optional. No congressional subpoena or investigative demand shall be binding on a president who chooses to ignore it." 3/9
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    Holy cow: 42% of Americans report undesired weight gain during Covid 19. The average weight gain is 29 lbs. And 41 lbs for Millennials! This will ramify for years to come. mailchi.mp/20625980cc22/f…
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    Still, the existing Trump amendments give the president WAY more discretion and impunity than the Founders intended. After Trump, we're more dependent than ever on the president's character to prevent a quasi-monarchy. 8/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    5. "The president shall have unconstrained authority to dangle and issue pardons for the purpose of obstructing justice, tampering with witnesses, and forestalling investigations. There is nothing anyone can do about this (see Amendment 1 above)." 6/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    4. "The president shall have authority to make appointments as he sees fit, without the advice and consent of the Senate, provided he deems his appointees to be acting, temporary, or otherwise exempt from the ordinary confirmation process." 5/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    3. "Congressional appropriations shall be suggestions. The president may choose whether or not to conform with congressional spending laws, and Congress shall have no recourse should a president declare that his own priorities supersede Congress's express will." 4/9
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    Replying to @jon_rauch
    Let's count our blessings. Had Trump won a second term, he'd have put through a 6th amendment: "The president may ignore or violate court orders." 7/9
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    The entire Mueller report, in 14 short paragraphs, via @davidfrum. Astonishing that the entire GOP (with one exception) can dismiss these findings.
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    Trump's Galaxy 3 phone is a massive security hole (vastly worse than Hillary's server): lawfareblog.com/president-trum…
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    "Don’t speak of the two parties as if they were somehow equal. The Democrats are upholding the rule of law; Republicans are undermining it."@MaxBoot
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    "What Trump and his supporters are up to should be thought of not as a litigation campaign that is likely to fail, but as an information-warfare campaign that is likely to succeed—and, indeed, is succeeding already."