Matthew Lawrence

No, the President Cannot Enforce the Law-Firm Deals The authors argue that President Trump's agreements with law firms are legally unenforceable. And the consequences that follow.

I ask because this was raised around the law firm deals (and I’m working on a paper exploring executive conditions in general). Q’s about whether ultra vires contracts are enforceable have also come up, www.justsecurity.org/110996/presi...

Aware of anyone clarifying for universities whether they could be liable under state fraud/bribery/kickback law for signing this and getting induced grants to the extent that the promised benefits might be ultra vires and so outside supremacy clause preemption under In re Neagle?

“If the President could later alter the bargain by negating provisions they disfavored, why would senators or representatives ever vote for a package including provisions they dislike?”

-Me, Pasachoff & Price last spring on how appropriations presidentialism causes shutdowns. tinyurl.com/59uwsu42

DISAPPROPRIATION - Columbia Law Review Introduction “Here an appropriation is less a grant of money than an act of duty, to which the Constitution, that is, the will of the nation, obliges us.” “We need to handle our financial situation.” ...

For my part, I focus on the separation of powers side of shutdowns in my Columbia Law Review paper, Disappropriation. tinyurl.com/mr45twe5

And I talk about who pays for shutdowns in my @yalelawjournal.bsky.social paper, Subordination and Separation of Powers. tinyurl.com/bp8j3tnk

Congress's Constitution A leading scholar of Congress and the Constitution analyzes Congress’s surprisingly potent set of tools in the system of checks and balances. Congress is w...

For anyone trying to understand how government shutdowns work, I will post a couple pieces I've done on them in the reply. But first I'd read @joshchafetz.bsky.social on "Congress's Constitution." yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Now, there have been arguments in the past that section 687 empowering GAO to sue is itself unconstitutional.

But at this point, if the courts are going to say that, we need them to actually do so—and then, if 687 is unconstitutional, they should sever any preclusion and let APA suits in.

On this: One reason the Supreme Court just said others can’t sue is *because Congress gave the power to GAO*. But GAO hasn’t sued.

Right or wrong, yesterday’s ruling is SCOTUS’s invitation for GAO to go to court. GAO works for Congress, so it will be interesting to see if members call for this.

Delighted to share that “Platform Politicization and the Constitution” is forthcoming in Emory Law Journal. The paper explores what open integration b/w social media platforms and political parties would/will mean for freedoms of speech and association.

Sharing abstract, dm for draft!

A panel of 7 people of different races and genders sitting at a table

Fascinating(yet depressing) plenary session at the Health Law Professors Conference ft. @ninakohn.bsky.social @mayamanian.bsky.social @mblawrence.bsky.social Medha Makhlouf Joan Krause Aaron Kessleheim: Updates on healthcare law & policy in tumultuous times. #HLP2025

I always like to see what other LPE and LPE Adjacent Scholars are up to. Thanks to @lpeblog.bsky.social for highlighting my article alongside other people whom I like reading such as @mblawrence.bsky.social, Bijal Shah, and Fred Jacobs, amongst others.

"Within only a couple months, Sewell became addicted to the app."

Big decision denying motion to dismiss on 1A grounds today in Garcia v. Character A.I., the first case against a chatbot for allegedly contributing to a teen's death.

Full opinion here: tinyurl.com/496s4epn

My book won the 2025 Neustadt award for best book on the American presidency.

Presidents enact bad policies, on purpose, because it helps them define their brand & gives the impression they're in charge. If that basic message resonates, please give it some of your reading time: lnkd.in/dVPsriXt

Surreal honor to be among a truly impressive list of experts recently appointed to serve as public members and senior fellows of the Administrative Conference of the United States. www.acus.gov/article/admi...

Thank you to the wonderful editors of the Indiana Law Journal for bringing "Super-Groups: Legal Empowerment and Public Law" to print!

My best effort to explore who the "powerful" are and the role of law in making them that way.

www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol100/i...

Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other relevant executive department and agency (agency) officials, communicate most-favored-nation price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed nations.

There's relatively little substantive content in the text of the MFN EO, but this section is emblematic of the many, many questions people should have about its scope. Where will the Secretary get this pricing information? How will they decide "price targets"? For which drugs? Which countries? Etc.

Sharing some of my thoughts on the unconstitutionality of impoundment at @dorfonlaw.bsky.social

Thoughts welcome!

Thanks Josh!

Thank you!

"in effect the early second Trump Administration seems to have substituted OMB’s legal authority over apportionment (which now must be exercised transparently) with DOGE’s functional control over federal payment systems"

www.yalejreg.com/nc/secret-co...

Great piece on by @mblawrence.bsky.social

Very cool-looking new paper from Dave Pozen and @mblawrence.bsky.social. Check it out! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Thanks @gaiabernstein.bsky.social and Seattle L. Rev.!

Aspects of social media regulation we address:
1. Is "addiction" the right word?
2. Epistemic bias and how it distorts the conversation
3. How industry bends science
4. Do we consent to being conditioned?
5. The costs of phone bans
6. Some ways kids are different

Incredible to see "Moral Panic or Public Health Crisis? Lessons From Drugs and Gambling for 'Addictive' Design" now out in print!

With my amazing @EmoryLaw 2L coauthor, Kevin Yan.

When was the last time you saw a Music Man epigraph?

digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcont...

Doing our best to explain what is going on with checks and balances when it comes to federal spending!

Over at the Notice and Comment blog, today's Ad Law Reading Room entry is "Appropriations Presidentialism," by @mblawrence.bsky.social, Eloise Pasachoff, and Zachary Price. Check it out! www.yalejreg.com/nc/ad-law-re...

"'Appropriations Presidentialism'—which clocks in at an eminently readable 25 pages—is both a short and engaging introduction to the issues and an extremely thoughtful preliminary assessment of an important development."

Thanks @dtdeacon.bsky.social for sharing our paper in the Ad Law Reading Room!

Excited to have the opportunity to present Statutory Liquidation at the Harvard/Yale/Stanford Junior Faculty Forum in June! Check the paper out here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

missed this amid *gestures* last week, but this is such a fantastic, fascinating read. I learned a ton and saw countless ways these systems (and their shortcomings) had affected my own access to essential medications, others' challenges finding care, and much else.

so, so well worth your time.

Thank you!

Thanks Ben!