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Josh Chafetz

@joshchafetz.bsky.social

Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Law and Politics, Georgetown Law: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/josh-chafetz/ Author, most recently, of _Congress's Constitution_: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248333/congresss-constitution/

147,656 Followers  |  968 Following  |  6,147 Posts  |  Joined: 22.06.2023
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Posts by Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz.bsky.social)

On some level, I know that if people like us don't buy the first book in a series when it comes out, there wont be second & third books, but on another level, I'm so tempted to just be 5 years behind in my reading so I can read series all at once ...

01.03.2026 16:15 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It's so good, right?

01.03.2026 16:12 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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LINDSEY GRAHAM: Our goal is to make sure Iran cannot become again the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

WELKER: Does the the president have a plan to guarantee that happens?

GRAHAM: No. It's not his job.

01.03.2026 15:35 β€” πŸ‘ 5258    πŸ” 1565    πŸ’¬ 1615    πŸ“Œ 984

The Department of Education has hung a massive banner honoring a racist college dropout who built a lucrative career out of targeting professors for harassment

01.03.2026 15:25 β€” πŸ‘ 5515    πŸ” 1675    πŸ’¬ 199    πŸ“Œ 72
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β€œ.. The attack came despite U.S. intelligence assessments that Iran’s forces were unlikely to pose an immediate threat to the U.S. mainland within the next decade.”

@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

01.03.2026 14:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1452    πŸ” 607    πŸ’¬ 108    πŸ“Œ 59

okay, good for you

01.03.2026 14:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

If by "there" you mean roughly 35 miles away in a different city in a different county, then yes.

01.03.2026 14:13 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

what the fuck are you talking about? it's a goddamn restaurant review, which one click would have told you.

01.03.2026 14:10 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Best New Reason to Visit the Barbecue Capital of Texas

want www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/d...

01.03.2026 13:49 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0

I suspect there is gender stuff happening too? Honest salt of the earth plumbers with proper views are 100% male, by stipulation.

01.03.2026 14:05 β€” πŸ‘ 514    πŸ” 58    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 4

Senator Tim Kaine to CNN: β€œI'm on two committees that give me access to a lot of classified information.

β€œThere was no imminent threat from Iran to the United States that warrants sending our sons and daughters into yet another war in the Middle East.”

01.03.2026 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 518    πŸ” 151    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 6

Texas has some incredible cities, which are just as Democratic as cities are everywhere else in the country, for one thing.

01.03.2026 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

how tedious of you

01.03.2026 13:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Best New Reason to Visit the Barbecue Capital of Texas

want www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/d...

01.03.2026 13:49 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0

Sorry, I should have specified that the person zooming in in the NYT excerpt is Clarence Thomas.

01.03.2026 13:36 β€” πŸ‘ 72    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 0

Clarence Thomas

01.03.2026 13:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

(FWIW, I tried to find a Dem senator as liberal as Lee is conservative, based on DW-NOMINATE dimension 1 scores. Unfortunately, there is no Dem senator as liberal as Lee is conservative, so I went with the closest.)

01.03.2026 13:35 β€” πŸ‘ 59    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Can you imagine if Sonia Sotomayor zoomed into a meeting from Liz Warren's office? www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/u...

01.03.2026 13:34 β€” πŸ‘ 132    πŸ” 36    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 1

Relatedly, if someone *is* invoking Libya, important to ask whether they are actually implying that the Libya stuff was legalβ€”or are trying to obscure such questions by making some kind of point about hypocrisy.

because it would be stupid to cite an illegal thing as support for an illegal thing.

28.02.2026 22:48 β€” πŸ‘ 47    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

CNN's @natashabertrand.bsky.social reporting rumored rationale that Iran was about to strike us first, preemptively, is not accurate to US sources she's spoken with.

VERY important because that would be a reason to not go to Congress first - imminent threat to US forces.

28.02.2026 21:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2303    πŸ” 686    πŸ’¬ 231    πŸ“Œ 48

But note that the memo explicitly finds that the Geneva Convention *does* apply w/r/t the war in Afghanistan.

28.02.2026 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I thought they denied that AQ was a lawful combatant. Didn’t Taliban prisoners get treated as POWs?

28.02.2026 21:01 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Does international law specify the wording such declarations must use?

28.02.2026 20:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The Constitution just says, β€œThe Congress shall have power … to declare war.” It doesn’t say what form that has to take, and it’s in Art. I, Sec. 8, the rest of which is effectuated through normal legislation.

28.02.2026 20:47 β€” πŸ‘ 34    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Honestly, there’s no real difference between something styled a β€œdeclaration of war” and something styled an AUMF. The meaningful difference is going to Congress or not.

28.02.2026 20:43 β€” πŸ‘ 120    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

We seem to have collectively decided, gradually and mostly out of apathy, that presidents can launch flagrantly unconstitutional wars of choice without congressional approval and there just won’t be any consequences. Would be nice if this is where we start reversing the trend.

28.02.2026 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 784    πŸ” 172    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 9

One very minor silver lining: this war is incredibly unpopular across the political spectrum and it is extremely unlikely that we will see the kind of civil society mobilizations on par with the post-9/11 hysteria.

28.02.2026 17:23 β€” πŸ‘ 54    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0
OCASIO-CORTEZ STATEMENT ON
TRUMP'S COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN
"The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic.

"Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead.President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating "that often happens in war.'

"Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people.

"Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different.

"In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war.

OCASIO-CORTEZ STATEMENT ON TRUMP'S COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN "The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. "Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead.President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating "that often happens in war.' "Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people. "Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different. "In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war.

My statement on President Trump’s combat operations in Iran⬇️

28.02.2026 16:46 β€” πŸ‘ 10986    πŸ” 3279    πŸ’¬ 361    πŸ“Œ 246

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: "If there was ever a time for Republicans to find their spines, it's now, when the Commander in Chief readily admits that he is choosing to put our troops' lives at risk without a legitimate imminent threat to our homeland or our citizens."

28.02.2026 17:35 β€” πŸ‘ 2945    πŸ” 926    πŸ’¬ 96    πŸ“Œ 24